Doing business at sea is cumbersome, with early receiving, storage, transshipment, etc., and each transaction takes several months.

So, they meet several times a year to determine the share, and then decide on the place of the transaction, transfer the goods in advance to the dock of the transaction and so on.

After Lu Shiyuan said this, everyone immediately threw aside the matter of the imperial grandson and began to seriously discuss the details of the transaction.

Every year, because of the cooperation of the prefect of Songjiang, Deng Chushan, their maritime business is very smooth.

However, now that the imperial grandson has sent his own cronies to replace Deng Chushan's position, it will be a bit dangerous for them to trade in Songjiang Mansion again.

Moreover, the imperial grandson still has the only navy of the Ming Dynasty in his hands, once the port is blocked, they will not return to nothing.

"If it's in Taizhou, it's too far away from me, and it will take me a month to transfer the goods."

"Quanzhou is not close, it is quite far away from our families, and it is the land of the Fujian Gang, so they have to get a piece of the pie!"

"If the imperial court can set a tax rate and only collect a fixed amount of tax, it is not unacceptable......

At this time, they suddenly remembered the benefits of whitewashing ashore, if they paid some taxes to the imperial court, they could trade freely with overseas merchants, and they also studied a fart, and it was over directly where it was convenient to trade!

For a moment, the restaurant fell silent again.

Everyone's face was full of sorrow and helplessness, and finally turned into a heavy sigh.

The re-examination three days later came as scheduled, and there were very few people inside and outside the examination room.

After nearly three hundred candidates were put in, there were even fewer people left in the square in front of the city's gate.

Zhu Yunxi had already secretly ordered someone to keep an eye on the person named "Lu Shiyuan", and also told the guards not to search the candidate's body, intending to give the "female concubine" a bargain.

However, what disappointed him was that he walked around the examination room, but he didn't find the big white goose he saw last time, let alone Lu Shiyuan, who he had handpicked first.

This made Zhu Yunxi very disappointed, and felt that all his arrangements had been in vain.

Since he didn't see the person he wanted to see, Zhu Yunxi didn't expect much from the candidates present.

Let them play freely, anyway, as long as the city is established, it will always have to use people.

It's always good to have these literate and hyphenated people to work.

Erhu saw Zhu Yunxi's depression, and quietly leaned in front of Zhu Yunxi and said.

"Your Highness, the person you are looking for is outside the gate of the City Division, he actually came today, but for some reason, he did not enter the examination room for the exam!"

"And the little lady next to him is also ......."

"Do you want to take them in?"

Zhu Yunxi's spirit was immediately shocked when he heard this.

"They're coming?"

"Uncle Tiger, please arrange a chance encounter for me!"

"Did you meet by chance?"

Erhu couldn't help frowning when he heard this, he hated arranging this kind of drama the most.

Because this means that the identity of the imperial grandson cannot be exposed, and the safety of the imperial grandson must be guaranteed.

This will put a lot of pressure on their Jinyiwei's security!

Erhu hesitated again and again, and when he saw the look of anticipation on the face of the imperial grandson, he could only grit his teeth and say. ….

"Humble Command!"

Outside the gate of the City Shipping Division, Lu Shiyuan looked at the high-rise buildings in the Municipal Shipping Division with a stunned face, and his eyes were full of regret.

"Daddy, did you really give up like that?"

"Or else?"

Lu Shiyuan smiled bitterly.

"I really shouldn't have participated last time, and this time I participated again to sincerely play tricks on the imperial grandson and live up to the imperial grandson's kindness to me!"

"Because no matter what the final results are, it is impossible for a father to serve the imperial court and serve the imperial grandson!"

Although Lu Shi is unable to take the second exam due to his status. But he is still very grateful to the imperial grandson for calling him the first.

If it is placed in the imperial examination, the imperial grandson can be his teacher, and he will perform the disciple ceremony.

"Since my father has decided not to participate, why are we still here?"

"Look at ......"

Lu Shiyuan's heart is now the same as that of a chess friend, even if he knows that he can't take the exam, he wants to know what the exam questions are for the first time, and then go home and secretly do the last article by himself, so that he can have a good time.

But there is no need to tell your daughter about this little caution, so as not to be ridiculed by your daughter.

When the grass was growing in Lu Shiyuan's heart, and he was eager to fly into the examination room to take a look at the exam questions, a handsome young man wearing a talent shirt suddenly walked out of the direction of the examination room of the city's division.

Seeing this, Lu Shiyuan hurriedly greeted him and bowed to Xiao Xiucai.

Because according to the rules formulated by Lao Zhu, the shirt is the exclusive clothing of Xiucai, and ordinary people cannot wear it at will.

Although Lu Shiyuan is rich and rivals the country, he has no fame, and he has to salute when he sees Xiucaigong.

"Dare to ask this talented man who just came out of the examination room?"

"Yes!"

"I wonder what the question is in this exam?"

"Uncle, I see that you are also a talent, why don't you go to the examination room to take the test in person?"

"I'm ......"

Lu Shiyuan stroked his beard and smiled.

"The old man was unlucky and didn't make it to the last exam, so he was not qualified to take this exam."

Zhu Yunxi smiled slightly when he heard this, and did not expose Lu Shiyuan's lies, but made a gesture of please.

"Since Mr. pays attention to the exam questions, why don't you find a secluded place, I will inform you of the exam questions, Mr. will answer the questions within a limited time, and then we will each take out our own articles for comparison, and compare whose articles are better?"

Zhu Yunxi's words can be regarded as talking about Lu Shiyuan's "exam fan", and when he heard this, he naturally agreed.

"Good!"

"That's a great word!"

"The old man will compare with Xiaoyou, and see whose article is better!"

After the two looked at each other and smiled, they immediately chose a teahouse next to the city's ship.

Originally, Lu Shi originally wanted to wrap up all the teahouses, but he could see that the people sitting in the hall on the first floor were all practitioners, so he didn't dare to say this.

When the two of them came to the second floor, there was only one tea room that was empty, which made Lu Shiyuan even more unhappy.

"Little friend, this place is too noisy, let's change places."

"Sir, whether noisy or not is not noisy is not in the environment, but in the state of mind. As the saying goes, it is not the wind that moves, nor does the banner move, but the heart of the benevolent is also moved."

Lu Shiyuan saw Zhu Yunxi casually say the allusion of the Sixth Ancestor Huineng, so he no longer insisted on changing places. ….

"Xiaoyou is right, but the old man is timid!"

"In that case, then please take a seat!"

"Please!"

Zhu Yunxi was not polite to Lu Shiyuan, and sat in the position facing the door.

Lu Shiyuan saw Zhu Yunxi sitting in the main seat, and he sat in the position of Zhu Yunxi's left hand, and then ordered his daughter to wait.

"Red Whisk, go make tea!"

"Use the little dragon group we brought ourselves, and then use the spring water we took from Baotu Spring!"

"Yes!"

After Lu Shiyuan finished instructing his daughter, he said to Zhu Yunxi on the side.

"It's a remote place, and there's no good tea, so let's use it as something you carry with you!"

Zhu Yunxi listened to the sweat in his heart, and thought to himself who this person is, he is bigger than himself and the emperor's grandfather.

He is the grandson of the Ming Emperor, and he didn't say that he sent someone to Baotu Spring in Shandong to get water to make tea and drink!

As for his own bitter imperial grandfather, he was even reluctant to drink it from Xiaolongtuan, and only drank brewed bud tea.

"The Little Dragon Regiment is a tribute, and Mr. has a good family background!"

Lu Shiyuan waved his hand indifferently.

"A few mundane things are not enough to worry about!"

"Under the line

Prepare tea, and ask Xiucai Gong to prepare incense sticks for timing."

When Zhu Yunxi heard this, he immediately took out a palm-sized pocket watch from his sleeve and pretended to be a little forced.

This thing is the latest development of their manufacturing bureau, although the error is about half a quarter of an hour every day, but it is already the smallest pocket watch that the manufacturing bureau can make.

"You don't need incense sticks or anything like that, there's something here below that can be used as a timekeeper."

Lu Shiyuan can also be regarded as a well-informed person, and there is nothing he has not seen in the various goods of the South Seas.

However, the thing that the little boy in front of him casually took out was beyond his cognition.

"What is this?"

"It's called a pocket watch, and it's a lightweight timekeeping tool. One rotation of the longest hand is one minute, and fifteen turns is a quarter of an hour. The hand in the middle turns for half an hour, and the shortest one for half a day."

Lu Shiyuan stared at the pocket watch that Zhu Yunxi took out for a while, and said in amazement.

"It's magical, I don't know where I can buy it?"

Zhu Yunxi smiled when he heard this.

"It's still in the development stage, and there is only this one piece in Daming, and if you want to buy it with silver, it will take a few months at the earliest."

"Oh!"

Lu Shiyuan heard Zhu Yunxi say this, and re-evaluated Zhu Yunxi's identity.

He originally thought that the little boy in front of him was just an ordinary talent, but seeing that he could come up with such a delicate and exquisite thing at his fingertips, his identity should not be ordinary.

"Dare to ask Xiucai's surname?"

"Under the surname...... Huang, a famous person, you can call me Huang Shiren......

"Wong Shiren ......"

Lu Shiyuan searched in his mind, but he didn't come up with any big family surnamed Huang in Songjiang Mansion. In the end, I had no choice but to get up and report my name.

"In Xialu Lechuan, if Xiaoyou doesn't give up, just call me Brother Lu."

"Then the little brother is offended?"

"Little brother has seen Brother Lu!"

"I've also seen Huang Xiaoyou below!"

After the two met again, they sat down again, and at this time, Lu Hongfu, who had just gone out, also brought two servants to bring the things that made tea and cooked tea by the side of the two of them. ….

Lu Shiyuan was used to this, but Zhu Yunxi saw it very novel and interesting, especially the small stove brought by the other party, which was even more exquisite than what he saw in the palace.

However, what shocked him the most was that the things burned by the other party turned out to be general-sized pine towers.

When the stove burns, a faint rosin fragrance comes out of the fire, making the whole room a lot more elegant.

"Brother Lu is really a connoisseur of tea tasting, this tea set is really chic and interesting."

Lu Shiyuan smiled heartily when he heard this.

"If you like it, I'll give you a set for my brother another day."

Zhu Yunxi thought to himself, if you give me the person who makes tea, I can't see a small stove yet.

It's just that I just think about this kind of thing, and I really say it to ensure that this uncle will turn his face on the spot.

"Then thank Brother Lu for his generosity!"

Lu Shiyuan saw that his daughter's side had already boiled tea, and the timekeeping tools were ready, so he immediately made a "please" gesture to Zhu Yunxi.

"Please ask the little friend to do the question!"

Zhu Yunxi also retracted his gaze, with a solemn look on his face.

"Ask!"

"Which is greater than the benefit of the sea or the benefit of the plains?"

Lu Shiyuan was immediately stunned when he heard this question, and looked at Zhu Yunxi in a daze.

"Finished?"

"It's over!"

"This time, the city boss has such a question, please answer it Brother Lu!"

Lu Shiyuan took the pen and stared for a moment, and then brushed and wrote on the paper.

This topic is really tailor-made for him.

He has been thinking about this question for decades, if he is an official of the Ming Dynasty, how to assist the Ming Dynasty to take advantage of the benefits of the sea

to achieve the goal of enriching the country and strengthening the army.

However, he never thought that the second question from the imperial grandson was the question that he had been thinking about for decades.

At this moment, he regretted very much that he had not been able to take the exam.

If he goes to the examination room, he will definitely be appreciated by the imperial grandson with his ability.

Even if he is not used by the emperor's grandson in the end, he can still see the demeanor of his bosom friend.

Which is greater, the sea or the plain?

If the Ming Dynasty is partial to the sea, it is naturally the greatest benefit of the plains. If Daming is determined to forge ahead and Yang Fan is overseas, the benefits of the plains are not enough......

The ocean not only has the benefits of fish and salt, but also the benefits of trade, spices and so on......

The more Lu Shiyuan wrote, the more excited he became, and he even couldn't help but read it out as he wrote.

"Therefore, in a hundred years, the benefits of the sea will not be apparent. However, a hundred years away, it will inevitably be a situation of thousands of sails competing for the sea."

"If the Ming Dynasty does not take advantage of this opportunity to seize the opportunity, the descendants will be imprisoned in the sea and will never be peaceful......

Lu Shiyuan finished writing the last stroke, blew dry the ink on the paper, and respectfully handed it to Zhu Yunxi.

"Please also ask Huang Xiaoyou to comment!"

Zhu Yunxi took a look, and the more he looked at it, the happier he became, feeling that he had found a soulmate.

"Mr. Lu, if you take the exam, you must be the champion this time!"

Lu Shiyuan heard Zhu Yunxi's praise and had a smug smile on his face.

He also thought so in his heart, if he made a move, no one in the city would be an opponent.

"Xiaoyou thinks this article is still eye-catching?" ….

"It's not just fair, it's very good. It's just that the gentleman's thinking is a little contrary to the following."

"I don't think the benefits of the sea are comparable to the benefits of the plains."

"Oh?"

When Lu Shiyuan heard this, his eyebrows immediately furrowed.

"What do you mean by that?"

Zhu Yunxi smiled when he heard this.

"There are also people who are officials in the court, and they know that our Ming Dynasty once opened a city in Quanzhou, Taizhou and other places, but it has little effect, and it is only a tariff of more than 300,000 taels of silver every year."

"On the other hand, the grain tax, silk tax, etc. of the Ming Dynasty are more than tens of millions every year?"

"Brother Lu said in the article that the benefits of sea trade are tens of millions, why didn't I see it?"

Lu Shiyuan saw that Zhu Yunxi was so ignorant, and he immediately felt a little angry in his heart.

"Huang Xiaoyou doesn't know that the reason why the imperial court can't collect the tariffs of the sea trade is not that the sea trade is unprofitable, but that the imperial court has taken improper measures and the merchants are unwilling to pay taxes."

"His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty chased the barbarians to the north and restored my China, which has immortal merits. However, he is not proficient in the way of merchants."

"He only knows how to follow the political system of the previous dynasty, blindly suppress the merchants, and even humiliate the merchants, and the merchants are naturally unwilling to pay taxes."

"If you can give the merchant a certain status and give up the retreat policy, the imperial court will naturally receive the benefits of sea trade!"

Zhu Yunxi laughed again when he heard this.

"Brother Lu is thinking too simply, isn't it?"

"The emperor's grandson reopened the market, but there are still no merchants to register."

"The emperor's grandson directly abolished the restrictions on the people and the industry, and took talents out of the ordinary, and there were no people of insight who came to help."

"Brother Lu, how do you think the imperial grandson needs to be courteous to Corporal Xian so that the merchants can take the initiative to pay taxes?"

When Zhu Yunxi said this, he sighed helplessly.

"Merchants seek profit, and they will never change."

"It's so hard to get businessmen to pay their own taxes......

Zhu Yunxi's words can be said to be about Lu Shiyuan's sore feet, in fact, he privately thought that the sincerity given by the emperor's grandson was enough, but the maritime groups were used to not paying taxes, and rashly let them accept the control of the imperial court, how could they be happy?

Even if he is a person who is willing to sell himself to the court and pay taxes to the court, before the old emperor dies,

I don't want to take that risk.

Otherwise, why would he give up the exam after taking the first place?

It was really the old emperor who was too decisive and thunderous, which scared all of them.

Once they rashly defected to the imperial court and took the initiative to report to the city, no one could say what the old emperor would do with them in the end.

If they are just asked to pay some taxes, if they are asked to make up for the taxes owed over the years, then they will not be able to take out the money even if they are bankrupt!

Even if the imperial grandson succeeds to the throne in the future, he plans to wait and see for a few years. Only when the imperial grandson completely abandons the harsh government of the old emperor will he take the initiative to serve the imperial court.

"Huang Xiaoyou is right!"

"But this matter is hard to return, and it can't be blamed entirely on the businessman's profit."

"There are also some people of insight among the merchants, who are willing to pay taxes to the imperial court in exchange for the protection of the imperial court."

"Then ......"

"Forget it, I won't mention it in advance, Xiaoyou should tell me how it is written in your article!"

Zhu Yunxi saw that Lu Shiyuan was still thinking about the comparison, so he could only talk nonsense.

Fan Wen is ready-made, what Lu Shiyuan wrote in his article, he just said it again.

Lu Shiyuan frowned after hearing this, and then smiled bitterly at Zhu Yunxi.

"Xiaoyou is too naughty, isn't he, actually playing with the old man?"

Zhu Yunxi smiled when he heard this, and bowed to Lu Shiyuan.

"It's no secret, the juniors didn't take the exam."

"Oh?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Zhu Yunxi smiled mysteriously.

"Because the younger generation is the one who made the question."

"Is there any reason in this world for the person who asks the question to answer the question himself?"

When Lu Shiyuan heard Zhu Yunxi say this, his face immediately showed a look of horror. Lu Hongfu, who was making tea on the side, also looked nervous when he heard this, and his little hand reached into his sleeve.

There was a knife hidden there, which she usually used for self-defense.

"You...... Are you the emperor's grandson?"

"Exactly!"

Fiery chicken fir