Chapter 203 Zhu Yuanzhang: Pay the money first and then give the house, only a fool will accept it (please subscribe!!) "But the pre-sale system has just come out now. The government just gave a notice. It seems there will be some time before it is officially implemented." Guo Zi explained.

"Only a fool would accept this rule." Zhu Yuanzhang muttered.

"Exactly! If I pay the money, can I get the money back if the house is not repaired?"

"No!" Guo Zi shook his head.

"What if they only repair the door and only charge money but don't repair the house, then what should the people who bought the house do?"

"The biggest fear is that someone will take the money and run away."

"How could such a shrewd person like Prince Consort Ouyang make such a mistake!"

"I'm now starting to worry that my investment has been wasted."

Facing the doubts of Zhu Yuanzhang and the officials, Guo Zi shook his head again, with a helpless look on his face, "You guys shouldn't ask me these questions. I don't know if you ask me! Instead, ask Mr. Ouyang! But with me Knowing Master Ouyang, he should be able to think of a solution."

After hearing Guo Zi's words, the officials stopped talking. After all, although Guo Zi did not answer their questions, he was right. Ouyang Lun did not fight an unprepared battle.

However, the doubts in the minds of the officials were not dispelled.

If it hadn't been for the early morning court, they would have probably started arranging their men to inquire about things in Peiping.

At this time, Wu Jingzhi, the censor of the right capital of the Inspectorate, stood up and said: "Your Majesty, things are not calm in Beizhili. I heard that many businessmen in Beiping are not satisfied with the government. The reason is that we agreed before There are too many people to carve names on the monument, and the stone tablet can no longer be engraved.”

"These businessmen gathered together and angrily surrounded the Peking Prefecture's Yamen."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's face darkened, "This businessman is really lawless. If Ouyang Lun indulges those businessmen, won't these disasters happen sooner or later?"

"How did Ouyang Lun handle it?"

Wu Jingzhi shook his head, "Replying to Your Majesty, Mr. Ouyang didn't deal with it at all."

Not processed? ! !

kindness? !

Zhu Yuanzhang's face became even more ugly, "How did Ouyang Lun become the chief minister? The businessmen bullied him and he didn't care?"

"Humph! In the past, Ouyang Lun always talked about revitalizing the economy and encouraging businessmen. I think he really shot himself in the foot this time."

"If these businessmen fall into my hands, they will lose their skin!"

Although Zhu Yuanzhang looked angry, he still felt a little happy.

I didn't expect that you, Ouyang Lun, would be like this today. Those businessmen are like wolves on the grassland. They come when they smell the smell of meat. If you are not careful, you will be bitten by them with blood dripping, or even lose your life. You Ouyang Lun has some ability, but he is still young and lacks experience in dealing with these merchants. I think we suffered a lot from those merchants back then. If we take action in time, I am afraid that the Ming Dynasty will be controlled by the merchants.

This time I also want to see your Ouyang Lun joke. Of course, we will definitely not let those businessmen bully you Ouyang Lun to death. You are our son-in-law after all. You can die in our hands and no one can hurt you. you!

"Wu Jingzhi, hurry up and tell me how far Ouyang Lun has been pushed by those businessmen. What do the people of Jinyiwei do for food? Such an important thing has not been reported back. Is it possible that Ouyang Lun is selling grilled fish? Went for fried chicken wings?!”

In response to Zhu Yuanzhang's inquiry, Wu Jingzhi was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Your Majesty, I never said that Lord Ouyang was forced by those businessmen! From the beginning to the end, the group of businessmen did not even see Lord Ouyang's face."

"It turns out that he is hiding. Although this doesn't solve the problem, it is still a way to do it. This guy is quite clever, but cleverness is useless. Businessmen are not common people or loyal ministers. The more you hide from them, the more trouble you get in their noses. Face." Zhu Yuanzhang muttered to himself.

"Your Majesty, Lord Ouyang did not hide from those businessmen. He just asked Xu Liang, the prefect of Peking, to do this." Wu Jingzhi was really worried that Zhu Yuanzhang would misunderstand something, so he quickly told everything he knew, "Prefect Xu followed Lord Ouyang's instructions. The method was very easy to control the group of businessmen, and the businessman turmoil from beginning to end took less than one morning."

"Well" Zhu Yuanzhang felt a little embarrassed after hearing this. This boy was so experienced at doing things at a young age. His previous ideas were completely ruined. However, Zhu Yuanzhang had long been accustomed to this kind of thing, and his level of self-strategy was also constantly improving.

"Huh, I'm still barely qualified. As my son-in-law, if you can't handle this little thing well, why are you still here?" Zhu Yuanzhang immediately changed his face.

All the officials in the Taiji Hall were quite speechless when they heard this.

Just now you looked like you were mocking and looking at other people's jokes, now you are Zhu Yuanzhang's good son-in-law again? Alas, this emperor’s face!It becomes faster than turning the pages of a book.

But what can be done about this? Zhu Yuanzhang is the emperor. You are the emperor and you have the final say.

"Your Majesty is wise!"

All the officials shouted in unison with a tacit understanding.

Li Shanchang stood up and said: "Your Majesty, I suddenly heard that when the Ming Dynasty was just founded, and everything was in ruins, there was also a wealthy businessman who relied on repairing the city walls for the Ming Dynasty. He tried to reach out to the court with some credit, but in the end, your Majesty was ingenious. To resolve, Prince Consort Ouyang’s handling of the businessman’s turmoil is quite similar to the method used by His Majesty!”

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction. These were a few things that Zhu Yuanzhang was proud of in his life, and they could be compared with defeating Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng, etc.

Guo Zi was quite curious and asked: "Master Li, I have been an official in the frontier for many years and am quite unfamiliar with this matter. Why don't you help tell me what happened back then so that we can have a taste of His Majesty's style!" Many senior officials knew about this, but there were also many officials who had just been promoted from the local government who did not know about it, and they all agreed and wanted Li Shanchang to tell this story.

Li Shanchang smiled and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang, "Your Majesty, compared to your battle with Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng, not so many people know about this matter. Since so many colleagues want to know, why not let me tell them about it?"

To promote his glorious deeds, Zhu Yuanzhang had no reason to refuse! Just let the officials know that when it comes to dealing with businessmen, he, Zhu Yuanzhang, is more skillful! Zhu Yuanzhang pretended to think deeply for a moment, and then nodded, "Since all of you, dear friends, want to hear it, then you can tell it, but I have to remind you to be truthful and don't brag too much!"

"Yes, your majesty, please rest assured. I will tell the truth." Li Shanchang cupped his hands, lowered his head and thought for a moment, and then said: "More than ten years ago, when the Ming Dynasty was just established, there was a wealthy businessman named Shen Wansan in the south of the Yangtze River. He was born into an ordinary family. , Even in the midst of war, Shen Wansan relied on his own intelligence to run his business. After decades of becoming rich, he has made millions of dollars and became the largest landowner in Jiangnan."

"This Shen Wansan farm has properties all over the world. Because the Shen family has too much land, they hire many long-term and short-term workers, which solves the food and clothing problems of many people. They are quite famous in Jiangnan."

"However, when Shen Wansan got rich, he had other ideas. He first acted like he was charitable and caring for the people. These behaviors gave him high prestige in the local area."

After hearing this, an official said: "Master Li, why do you say that Shen Wansan is deliberately trying to act like he is "charity-loving and caring for the people"? Couldn't it be that Shen Wansan really wants to do good things?"

Li Shanchang smiled slightly, "Do you know how Shen Wansan made his fortune?"

"Everyone in the world has said that Shen Wansan was of ordinary origin, smart, hard-working and eager to learn, and managed with integrity, which is how he accumulated such a huge fortune. Hehe, he did business in troubled times and did it so well and so big. Do you really think that he relied on his personal ability and heart? Is it good?"

"As far as I know, Shen Wansan managed thousands of acres of farmland in Gusu City in his early years. Later, he took advantage of the business opportunity of the imperial court's opening of private foreign trade to engage in business in silk, tea, porcelain and handicrafts with Dongying and Nanyang. Shen Wansan focused on clinging to the powerful and currying favor with wealthy people. All the connections between powerful people were made with money, and officials of the Yuan Dynasty accepted bribes from them. Later, Zhang Shicheng, a private salt dealer in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, launched a peasant uprising and proclaimed himself emperor of Zhou Dynasty. In order to curry favor with Zhang Shicheng, Shen Wansan paid for Zhang Shicheng's officers and soldiers. Rewards were distributed, and when Zhang Shicheng was transporting grain northward, he also allocated a large sum of money to Shen Wansan for boat labor, which quickly made Shen Wansan the richest man in the south of the Yangtze River."

"Your Majesty destroyed the armies of Zhang Shicheng, Chen Youliang, Fang Guozhen and others, captured Suzhou City, and established the Ming Dynasty. Seeing this, Shen Wansan immediately abandoned Zhang Shicheng, expressed his allegiance to Your Majesty, and organized large households in Jiangsu and Zhejiang to pay taxes and grain to the Ming Dynasty. In order to curry favor with His Majesty, Shen Wansan even hosted a banquet for His Majesty. At the banquet, there were red agate wine glasses, suet jade chopstick holders, and white agate fruit plates. It was extremely luxurious, and he also sent beautiful women and money to tempt him, but His Majesty did not Just got fooled!"

"You think such a businessman who is good at management and clinging really really does good deeds?!"

For a while, the hall was silent.

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang said loudly: "Today's incident is also a reminder to you that businessmen will do whatever it takes to gain profits, and you must resist all kinds of temptations they throw out!!"

"Okay, Li Shanchang, please continue."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Li Shanchang nodded and continued: "At that time, when the Ming Dynasty was first built, the country was in ruins after the war, and building the city wall was a top priority. So His Majesty ordered the construction of the city wall, but he never thought that the treasury was empty and could not support it. Not long after the construction of the city wall began, there was already no money in the treasury to pay for it.

Ministers submitted notes to the court one after another, asking His Majesty to solve the funding problem as soon as possible. Zhu Yuanzhang was too anxious to do anything. At this moment, Shen Wansan suddenly asked to bear the cost of repairing the city wall, and even said firmly, "Thanks to the emperor for thinking highly of me, Shen Wansan, for donating money to the country." It's my duty'

Subsequently, he not only immediately raised the required funds, but also took the initiative to undertake one-third of the city wall construction task and personally supervised the construction.

He monitored the construction site day and night, urging the workers to improve the construction only did the funds keep up, but the wages of the migrant workers were also paid on time. With everyone working together, the part of the city wall he was responsible for was completed three days earlier than the part built by the court.

This funding and construction of the city wall made His Majesty very happy. Shen Wansan helped the court solve a big problem. His Majesty admired Shen Wansan's generosity very much. Gradually, their contacts became closer, and His Majesty and Zhu Yuanzhang gradually became friends. "

Li Shanchang paused and continued: "If you only hear this, everyone's impression of Shen Wansan is still a kind-hearted businessman who loves the country and the people. Although he is good at maneuvering and clinging to powerful people, this is not a big problem, right?"

All the officials nodded.

"Then you have to listen carefully to what I'm going to say next."

"With Shen Wansan's support, the city walls in the capital were naturally repaired quickly. However, soon some people began to promote Shen Wansan openly and covertly. This earned Shen Wansan widespread praise from the people. People everywhere praised Shen Wansan as the "living Bodhisattva." Shen Wansan The prestige in the eyes of the people is getting higher and higher."

"Doing good things for the country and in the name of the country doesn't matter if it has a higher prestige, right?" another official said.

Li Shanchang smiled slightly and asked: "Then if you have such a high prestige, what will you do?"

"I will. I am sincerely afraid," the official's expression changed and he said quickly.

"You, an official with such prestige, would be frightened, let alone a businessman. Shouldn't he be even more frightened?" Li Shanchang continued: "But Shen Wansan didn't panic at all. Since then, Shen Wansan has become more philanthropic, and there are rumors that Shen Wansan is God favors people and rewards them with a cornucopia of treasures, that’s why they are so rich!”

"As a friend of His Majesty and with such high prestige, although Shen Wansan is only a businessman, his status is higher than that of an official. Later, he began to intervene in local management and monopolized the operations of various local industries."

"Everyone, if there is such a person today, and he relies on His Majesty's relationship and prestige to ask you to do business for him, would you do it or not?"

"Shen Wansan is much smarter than the businessmen who gathered to make trouble in Peking, and he is very good at managing his own image. However, when his wealth and status reached a certain level, he began to use his influence to control the government. This is a common practice of businessmen. Shen Wansan's tricks are more powerful. He reached out to His Majesty and even proposed to Your Majesty that he planned to use his own million taels of gold to reward the three armies on behalf of the Emperor!"

"But it's a pity that he met our Majesty."

Zhu Yuanzhang said solemnly: "I have actually given Shen Wansan several opportunities. If he had stopped in time, I would have made him a rich man for the rest of his life because of his contribution to establishing the establishment. But it is a pity."

Li Shanchang took over the conversation and continued: "Faced with Shen Wansan's pressing step by step, His Majesty used a method to easily deal with him."

"One day, His Majesty gave Shen Wansan one tael of silver, and told Shen Wansan that this penny was His Majesty's capital, and asked Shen Wansan to lend money to His Majesty. The request was to be limited to one month, starting from the second day to the 30th. Stop and collect one pair every day.”

(End of this chapter)