When it came to making money, Zhu Xiong was the least worried.
This was because there were too many types of items that could be exchanged in the system.
For example, refined salt.
The quality of this salt was much more delicious than the salt of Da Ming.
Ordinary merchants naturally could not sell illegal salt at will. This was a capital crime. However, he was not an ordinary person. He was a vassal king. Not to mention that it was easy to obtain the right to sell salt, even if he did not have the right to sell salt, it would not cause too much trouble.
In this era, salt was still a luxury in the homes of ordinary people.
Due to the lack of time and technology, the production was extremely low. Moreover, the sale was controlled by the imperial court. It was very difficult for ordinary people to eat a mouthful of salt.
Now, the Ming Dynasty had just been established, and many measures were not perfect. The implementation of salt delivery measures had increased the difficulty of people buying salt.
To put it bluntly, Zhu Yuanzhang transferred the salt sales rights controlled by the court to some very rich merchants, and thus obtained military expenses that could be used to equip the army.
After paying a certain price, the merchant would get a permit. This thing was called salt lead. With this salt lead, they could sell salt in a specific area and make a huge profit.
As long as he had a piece of salt in his hand, it meant that he had mastered a good way to make money that was worth thousands of dollars. In the future, this was called a monopoly business. It would be strange if it did not make money!
As a vassal king, he could naturally make use of this convenience to obtain a large amount of profits.
He could not change this national policy, but he could put a large amount of salt on the market and lower the price!
Of course, he would not directly lower the price of salt. However, the salt he sold would be more refined, but the price would be the market price. In comparison, he would naturally snatch the market share and force other salt merchants to lower the price or sell in other areas. However, once they went out of the stipulated area to sell, it would violate the laws of Ming Dynasty and they would have to take a huge risk!
Rich nobles and merchants would eat his refined salt, while ordinary people who had no money would buy salt at a reduced price. As for the loss of the salt merchants, how could Zhu Rong care about it?
Even if the other salt merchants knew that he had lowered the price, they could only watch helplessly. Would they dare to be dissatisfied with the vassal king?!
Other than that, he could also save the country through indirect means, such as selling pickles.
Selling salt was just a small matter for the vassal kings. Even if the imperial court knew about it, they would not interfere too much. After all, the imperial court also benefited from it and used it as military expenditure to fill the national treasury.
He couldn't let all the people in the country eat cheap salt, but he could let the people in his fief obtain great wealth from firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea.
In addition, he could also exchange for condiments such as chicken essence and oyster sauce.
Even though this thing was not eye-catching in the future, it was a luxury item in this era.
It could improve the taste and color of ordinary dishes and make them even more delicious.
These condiments would inevitably become luxury goods that rich and powerful businessmen would scramble to purchase. In addition, they could also open restaurants to attract high-end customers at high prices.
It was only fun to earn the money of the rich!
Zhu He could come up with countless plans to make a fortune with just a rough idea. For ordinary businessmen, it might not be so easy to realize, but for Zhu He, who had the status of a vassal king, he could just hand them over to his subordinates.
He didn't even need to personally take action. Even if something went wrong in the future, he could just push the blame away and his subordinates would naturally take responsibility for him.
Even if he was punished, he would definitely not be punished by the emperor's son!
What he needed to pay attention to personally was actually the problem at the back.
They had obtained a large amount of funds to purchase food, but if they continued to purchase, they would spend too much money. Secondly, it would increase the price of food in the market, which was not beneficial to the people.
Furthermore, it was now the 12th year of Hongwu. The land of the Three Jin, which was Shanxi, where the King of Jin was located, would experience a serious drought.
If nothing unexpected happened, there would be a large number of refugees pouring into his territory this year.
At that time, he could absorb these refugees and get them to help him build the highway. The only thing he needed to do was to prepare the rations for these refugees in advance.
Wages? Hehe, that's not true. In this day and age, if you don't starve to death, then burn incense. After this, many people would probably call him the Bodhisattva of Life!
Therefore, he had to have a bumper harvest in Qi Land this year.
At the moment, he could directly control the land in his fief.
He decided to plant two main crops, sweet potatoes and potatoes.
These two were high-yielding crops and were very easy to starve.
Moreover, it was easy to store and transport!
After the sweet potatoes were ripe, they could be placed in the cellar for long-term preservation. In addition, they could be dried as dried sweet potatoes. Whether it was cooking porridge or other cooking methods in the future, they were definitely delicious dishes for the refugees.
There was no need to mention potatoes. They had a longer storage time and there were many ways to make them. Although they would burn if they ate too much, they were like delicacies to refugees.
Of course, although he had a lot of land, it was not enough to deal with large-scale refugees. Therefore, he had to attract the big landowners of Qi Land to follow suit and plant some sweet potatoes and potatoes.
It was almost the beginning of spring, so he had to release the news as soon as possible.
Zhu Rong settled down in the manor. Not to mention, in the capital, Marquis Jiangyin's residence had been in chaos recently.
The reason was not that something had happened to the Wu family, but that the son-in-law of the Wu family, the Seventh Prince Zhu Xi, had been beaten up by the Emperor. He was even sent to the Qi territory to be a vassal when he was discussing matters in the court. He was not even allowed to pack his luggage. Aiyo, that was a sorry state.
It was Noble Consort Da who received the news and cleverly packed up her belongings. She had the Seventh Prince's servants, attendants, and others drive dozens of carriages to chase after them.
This scene was not pleasant to hear. In the eyes of ordinary people, the Seventh Prince leaving the capital was like a stray dog. It could be said to be extremely miserable.
The Seventh Prince's status was not ordinary to begin with, and with such a huge commotion, everyone naturally knew about it. Now, he had become a laughing stock in the entire capital.
The Wu Clan was naturally affected.
On the day of court, Marquis Jiang Yin returned home and brought back the news. The Wu family was in a panic.
The marriage of the royal family was not a child's play. The engagement had long been set and the wedding was to be held this year. Although the exact auspicious date had not been chosen, the Seventh Prince had been driven out of the capital, and the Emperor would not allow him to return to the capital in a short period of time. This marriage definitely could not be completed in the capital!
After hearing this, the women of the Wu family all had worried expressions.
"Old Master, why didn't you stop me back then?”
"I'm stopping you?" Wu Liang smiled bitterly. How can I stop him? Who would have thought that King Qi would say such shocking words in court? Not to mention me, even Uncle Sincerity and Minister Zuo didn't dare to speak!!”
Everyone gasped.
"Uncle Sincerity and Left Minister are both His Highness King Qi's teachers, yet they didn't say anything?”
Zhu Xiong hadn't activated the system for years, and he had done nothing but become a teacher.
After Liu Bowen was conferred the title of Earl of Sincerity, he would be granted the title of Earl of Sincerity the following year. He would return to his hometown to farm. If it wasn't for Zhu Xi, he wouldn't be able to stay in the imperial court.
However, Liu Bowen was a shrewd person. He only taught Zhu Rong some poems, songs, and ancient classics. He did not teach anything else, nor did he get too close to Zhu Rong. He had always been wise to protect himself.
He knew very well that he had contributed too much. It was already rare for him to finish what he started. In a situation like Zhu Rong's in the imperial court, how could he possibly appear?
As for the Left Prime Minister Hu Weiyong, he was the closest to Zhu Rong recently. He was afraid that Zhu Yuanzhang would mistake him for teaching Zhu Rong to talk nonsense. It was too late to distance himself from him, so he did not dare to speak.
"All the officials in the court didn't dare to speak, and I also lay on the ground, not daring to move. The majesty of the Son of Heaven is upon me. Aiya, you don't understand what that feels like, you don't understand…Fortunately, His Highness King Qi only arrived in Qi ahead of time to become a vassal and wasn't stripped of his position as vassal king.”
Wu Yan hid in the corner of the room and listened. Her eyes were bright. When she heard that Zhu Xiong had caused such a big commotion in the court, she was so scared that she stuck out her tongue and thought,"This guy, how can he be so bold? Even His Majesty isn't afraid? Aiya, if he goes to Qi Di, does that mean I have to go to Qi Di as well?”
Wu Yan, who had never traveled far before, could not help but feel a little excited.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。