amaotonovel Chapter 293 Old Zhu: Our son-in-law...
Chapter 293 Old Zhu: Our son-in-law...
Zhu Biao has arrived.
Zhu Biao left again.
He came quietly and left quietly, waving his sleeves and taking away a memorial written by Magistrate Yang.
The memorial didn't contain many words, but upon closer inspection, every single word was filled with the four large characters "Dengzhou Quechang".
"In the past, he went to great lengths to smuggle good things into Ningyang County; now he's going to go to great lengths to smuggle them into Dengzhou."
"Our son-in-law..."
Emperor Zhu smiled and waved the memorial, instructing Chen Zhong to take it to Li Shanchang and the others. He then smiled and said to Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen, and the other high-ranking officials, "Now he has his sights set on the border markets. What do you all think?"
Li Shanchang glanced at Emperor Zhu discreetly, thinking to himself, "What else can I do? Emperor Zhu has already made up his mind, hasn't he?"
But it doesn't matter anyway. Neither of you two, father-in-law and son-in-law, are good people. Do whatever you want, as long as you don't make me worry about the market.
Liu Bowen also glanced at Emperor Zhu discreetly.
Compared to Li Shanchang, who had already decided to "join if you can't beat them," Liu Bowen was seething with hatred.
Because the development of many things is not subject to human will.
For example, sea freight, despite the risk of shipwrecks, has a large carrying capacity and much lower losses than land freight. Even if three out of ten times the ship sinks, the profits from the remaining seven times are enough to make a fortune.
Once the Dengzhou border market truly develops, Emperor Zhu will inevitably pay attention to maritime transport from Dengzhou.
With the growing emphasis on maritime transport in Dengzhou, Emperor Zhu was likely to take notice of maritime transport in other areas as well.
Whether Emperor Zhu would send troops to kill those short, ugly Japanese when that time came is hard to say, but the maritime trade of the Zhejiang gentry group would certainly be hit.
Take salt fields, for example.
If it were someone else running the salt fields, it would be better, but if it were Yang Dianfeng running the salt fields, who knows what kind of mess he would make of them?
Of course, if Yang Dianfeng only wanted the border markets to be transported by sea and the salt fields to be developed in Dengzhou Prefecture, it would be better. Although the gentry group in eastern Zhejiang would still feel the pinch, these two points were not unacceptable when it came to life.
The problem is that Yang the Madman wants to establish the border market in Dengzhou while simultaneously developing maritime transport and salt fields. This is an attempt to completely destroy the lifeblood of the entire Zhejiang gentry!
Liu Bowen pondered repeatedly in his mind how to persuade Emperor Zhu to abandon the plan to open a border market in Dengzhou, but his expression remained unchanged.
After a long while, Liu Bowen cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that Your Highness may not necessarily want to open a market in Dengzhou."
Emperor Zhu gave an "oh," and calmly looked at Liu Bowen, asking, "Why?"
Liu Bowen smiled, stroked his beard, and said, “Your Excellency, the Imperial Son-in-Law mentioned three requirements for choosing a market in his memorial: first, it must be near the sea; second, it must be near salt fields; and third, it must be convenient to use manpower.”
"Dengzhou is near the sea, but it had no salt fields before Hongzhou was transformed. It is not possible to start making salt right now, so it does not meet the second condition."
"Because Hongzhou was completely submerged, the people of Hongzhou need to be resettled, which involves many things such as redistributing land and rebuilding the city. There probably won't be enough manpower available for a while, which does not meet the third condition."
"Therefore, I believe that the Prince Consort's three requests are simply a consideration of the location for the border market, and not that he wants to set up a border market in Dengzhou."
Emperor Zhu gave another "oh" and laughed, "Brother Qingtian seems to know that scoundrel better than we do."
Liu Bowen's heart tightened, and he quickly bowed to Emperor Zhu, saying, "Your Majesty, this is just a wild guess and should not be taken seriously."
Emperor Zhu smiled and said, "It's alright. It's just a discussion among everyone. Brother Qingtian's guess might not be wrong."
However, just as Liu Bowen relaxed slightly, thinking that the matter was over, Li Shanchang laughed and said, "Ah, Mr. Qingtian has guessed wrong this time."
Emperor Zhu looked at Li Shanchang with a face full of curiosity and asked, "What do you mean?"
Li Shanchang said with a smile, "Does Your Majesty still remember what you asked the Crown Prince to write when you sent him to find the Imperial Son-in-Law this morning?"
Emperor Zhu said, “The memorials from Dengzhou Prefecture regarding long-term and short-term plans, the memorials regarding salt administration reform, the memorials regarding household registration reform, and some memorials regarding the border markets.”
Li Shanchang first cursed in his heart, "Serves you right for causing trouble for your son-in-law," and then said with a smile, "But didn't the Prince Consort also say that without on-site investigation, one has no right to speak? He will think about these related memorials after visiting Dengzhou."
Emperor Zhu hummed in agreement and laughed, “Not bad. Although we know this scoundrel just wants to slack off, his statement, ‘No investigation, no right to speak,’ is truly insightful. If it weren’t for that statement, we would definitely punish him.”
Li Shanchang thought to himself, "What are you trying to cure? Your son-in-law is such a jerk, isn't it all because you spoiled him?"
I bother!
He cursed inwardly, then continued, "What you said is also wrong. The Prince Consort is not slacking off; he is genuinely responsible for the people. That's how local officials should be."
First, Li Shanchang praised Magistrate Yang against his conscience, then continued, "The Imperial Son-in-Law did not write any other memorials because he did not conduct on-site investigations, but he did write a memorial about the border market, which shows that the Imperial Son-in-Law had already made up his mind about the border market."
"May I ask, whether it is choosing the location of the border market, or how to trade, manage, and collect taxes after the market is established, who in the entire court dares to say that they know more about it than Your Highness?"
"Therefore, I think the border market should be set up in Dengzhou Prefecture. After all, the Prince Consort still holds the official position of Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, so it is reasonable for him to manage the border market."
After a slight pause, Li Shanchang added, "Your Excellency, think about the mansion you bestowed upon the Prince Consort. This is an unprecedented favor. If you don't let the Prince Consort take on the responsibility of managing the border markets, wouldn't Your Excellency be making a huge mistake?"
As Li Shanchang finished speaking, Liu Bowen felt uneasy.
They're all insane! They're all fucking insane!
It's one thing that Yang Dianfeng is a madman, but you, Li Shanchang, are the head of the Huaixi nobility. Why the hell are you going crazy with Yang Dianfeng?
If Yang the Madman really manages to run the border market well in Dengzhou, we in eastern Zhejiang will certainly suffer, but how much better will you in western Huaihe River Basin fare?
Furthermore, what do you mean by saying that if Emperor Zhu didn't allow him to run the border markets, he would suffer a loss?
This is a matter of life and death, how could it be turned into such a joke in your mouth, Li Shanchang?