Chapter 45: Leng Jian from the Prince's Mansion
Because he became Wanli's grandson, Zhu Cheng had to stay in the palace to keep a guard for him. While no one was paying attention, Zhu Cheng handed Zhu Youjian and Zhu Youxiao brothers a pair of cotton sleeves. The two were very surprised, and Zhu Youjian asked, "Brother Cheng, what are you doing with this cotton sleeve in this summer?"
Since Guocheng changed his name to Zhu Cheng, Zhu Youjian has called him Brother Cheng openly. Zhu Cheng said: "This cotton cover is not for you to put on your hands, but on your knees. You have to kneel a lot during this period. Wearing this, your knees will feel more comfortable."
The two nodded together. Their knees have suffered these days and they kneeled down from the world. It would be fine if they were guarding, and they had cotton pads to cushions. If they did rituals or went outdoors and knelt on the ground, their legs would be really unbearable.
The three of them were talking in a low voice. Wang An came over and said, "Mr. Zhu Cheng, the Crown Prince, please come."
Zhu Cheng thought to himself, it's not good. The prince might still be thinking about the perfume workshop. What should I do? It's definitely not possible to hand it over. With the prince's greedy and stupid personality, the perfume workshop is in his hands less than a month, and it's almost done. By the time the perfume formula is leaked, the perfume sales are stagnant, so you can't take it. Zhu Cheng thought about it repeatedly and finally had some conspiracy. Now it's July 24, the prince ascended the throne on August 28, and died on September 26. By the way, let's just have two months to lie with him. It's enough to waste you.
The prince was dressed in a simple dress and sat upright in front of the Longshu desk, with a heavy face as deep as water, looking like a filial son with great bitterness and grudges, but his eyes showed unconcealed pride.
Zhu Cheng entered the palace and kowtowed to the prince and said, "Prince Zhu Cheng has met the emperor, long live my emperor."
The prince raised his eyebrows, and was obviously very happy to hear this, but he said modestly: "You can't call me that. My father is a great man, and I am sad in my heart and have no mood to pay attention to the ascension of the throne. If my father can live for a hundred years, I would like to be the crown prince for a lifetime."
Zhu Cheng said: "The country cannot have a king for a day. If the previous emperor is here, I will listen to everything that is to the previous emperor. If the prince is here, I will listen to everything that is to the prince."
The prince said happily: "It is very good that you can be so knowledgeable. It seems that the father's vision is very clever. I have a fancy to you, a loyal minister. Today I will take a look at the Yisun selected by the father."
"Then is there anything else to do with the emperor?"
"It's gone, okay, Zhu Cheng, you're very good."
"Then the minister will surrender."
"Okay, you go."
Zhu Cheng retreated to the door and was about to go out when the eldest son suddenly shouted: "Zhu Cheng, come back."
Zhu Cheng had no choice but to turn around and come back.
"I almost got caught up by you."
Zhu Cheng said in his heart that you are so proud that you can't blame others.
Zhu Cheng asked helplessly: "Long live the sage, I wonder what else to ask the Wei minister?"
"Don't you want to talk about the perfume workshop? I asked the manager of the Neiku, and he said he had never seen the money escorted from the children's playground."
"That was the former emperor pitying the emperor's grandson. Seeing that he was lonely and helpless, he allocated all the income from the perfume workshop to the emperor's grandson. Later, he saw that the income of the perfume workshop continued to increase, and there was no monthly payment for all the guards, eunuchs and maids in the children's playground in the palace, so let the emperor's grandson handle it himself."
"I remember why what you said last time is different from now?"
"That was the oral order of the late emperor, which made the minister keep his mouth shut."
"Why did you say it again today?"
Zhu Cheng said in his heart, aren’t you holding supreme power in your hands? Of course, this can only be said in your heart, but on the surface, he said: “Once the emperor is the emperor and the minister, now the ancestor is in great service, and the crown prince is the monarch of the weak minister. The way to be a minister is to be loyal, so naturally he must tell the truth.”
After hearing this, the prince smiled and said, "Then tell me about the annual income of the perfume workshop."
"The total revenue of the perfume workshop, towel weaving bureau, and soap manufacturing hall last year was 2.1 million taels of silver, and the total revenue of the tickets of the children's playground was 10,000 taels of silver."
The prince almost fell off the throne: "2,2,22,21 million taels of silver, which is 100,000 taels more than the income of the treasury last year. Zhu Cheng, are you bragging?"
Zhu Cheng said: "I am talking about net income, and the cost has been deducted."
The prince stood up, paced around, murmured, "2.1 million taels, 2.1 million taels, how much can this do? The old emperor was so stupid. He would rather send the mining supervisor to the place to plunder than collect the perfume workshop. How many taels of silver can the three melons and two dates plundered from that place be worth? How many taels of silver can this perfume workshop be charged a year."
Zhu Cheng's grief arises from his heart. Is Wanli stupid? That's benevolence and kindness. He would rather be cursed by ministers, rather leave a bad reputation in history books, and accumulate millions of property for his children and grandchildren. Wanli left you a world and tens of millions of taels of savings, and tens of millions of taels of silver for your younger brother. Did he frown? Wanli didn't know the income from the children's playground, but he didn't feel moved at all. He said, "I can't give the emperor's grandson any property, but I can still give some people and help." This is why Ning Yuan Bo, Peng Cheng Bo's collapse, and Shuntian Prefecture's end.
The prince suddenly stopped and asked, "How much is the silver Jian'er has now."
Guocheng's heart suddenly sank. Hearing the prince's opinion, not only did he take away the perfume workshop, but he also had to empty all the savings of the emperor's grandson. This is really the chicken that lays the golden eggs, and the eggs that lay the chickens also had to take away. Zhu Changluo was about to ascend the throne, be rich in the world, and compete with his son for profit, which was already cold. Not only that, he also wanted to take away the money his son had earned before, which really forced people to the corner. Compared with Wanli, Zhu Changluo was not as good as a passerby.
Guocheng said: "I haven't calculated it, there are probably 100,000 or 80,000 left."
The prince stared at Guocheng suspiciously and asked, "You didn't lie to me, are you?"
"I don't dare. The 2.1 million taels of silver were received last year. After paying back the debt, there was little left. In the past, the products of the children's park were only sold in Beijing, with an annual income of 300,000 taels of silver. Ajian and I felt that the profit was too little, so we contacted the Chamber of Commerce in the Thirteen Provinces to sell perfumes, towels, soaps and other items across the country. When we cooperated, we found that the output of the children's park was far from meeting the requirements of the Chamber of Commerce. For this reason, the emperor took out all his savings, borrowed money from the Chamber of Commerce, and purchased land in Miyun to build large workshops, so that we could produce enough goods and earn the 2.1 million taels of silver."
The prince thought about it, and he couldn't bear to let the child go to trap the wolf. He still had to flower what he should spend. Anyway, it was not his own. Forget it, if Zhu Youjian's pocket was really empty and spread it, it would damage his reputation. Then he said, "Let's do this, keep the ticket income of the children's playground and keep it with you. Give me all the perfume, towels, and soap, which can be considered as contributing to the Ming Dynasty."
Sure enough, Zhu Cheng said to me, let’s see how I fool you.
"Master, can you delay for two months? On September 30, you will give these industries, skilled workers and sales networks to Your Majesty in a complete manner?"
"What a joke? These workshops earn more than 100,000 yuan a month. I, oh no, I'm just waiting for money to use, how can it be late? I'm thinking that it's better to hand over all the industries to me tonight."
"The emperor doesn't know anything. First, Ajian still has more than 200,000 yuan left to repay the loan, which can make up for the hole in two months."
"Didn't Jianer pay back 100,000 yuan? You can pay it back in one month. Where can I use it for two months?"
Zhu Cheng couldn't help but shook his head in his heart. Zhu Changluo was too impatient. This is your son, not an enemy. He didn't see you so excited when dealing with Jiannu, and he was impatient when dealing with his son. He was really a rat carrying a gun.
"The second is that workers need to be rectified, workshops need to be repaired, and sales networks need to be handed over. I am responsible for all these matters, but I have to work for the Emperor in the past few months and have to take a break from my busy schedule to deal with these problems. Long live, please think about it. I have collected a perfume workshop tonight to prevent workers from leaking secrets; what tiles in the workshop will leak, which wall is crooked, and there is a risk of collapse; there is also a province where perfume is not easy to sell, why, perfumes in which province are hoarding and waiting to be resold. Do you know these problems? Have you figured out a way to deal with them?"
Zhu Changluo was dizzy when asked by this question, asking, "Is there such a trouble? Isn't it because I'm sitting in the room to collect money?"
"Of course it's not that easy. If Long Live hadn't rewarded a shop in a densely populated area and the journey between A Jian and I, the children's playground would not have been as large as today."
"Oh, it's really troublesome. Zhu Cheng, please help me with the perfume workshop for two more months. Today I will hand in the perfume formula."
"What does the emperor want to make the formula for perfume?"
Zhu Changluo's face turned red, and he was embarrassed to say, "I'm afraid you won't give it to me." He said with a shameless face: "I want to see you."
Zhu Cheng sighed and said, "Long live, I don't know. The workers in the perfume workshop work in sections, just because they are afraid that they know the formula of perfume. Some managers in the workshop know the formula, and children's playgrounds support them with high salaries, for fear that they will leak secrets. Today, it's easy for me to leave the formula, but long live, think about it, once this formula is spread, these industries will collapse quickly, and the annual income may be only tens of thousands of taels of silver. There is no insurance in the palace."
“How will I produce perfume then?”
"A Jian didn't know the formula of perfume. I once wanted to tell him that he refused, saying that the pressure of keeping confidentiality was too great. The emperor did not need to participate in the production of perfume. The managers in the workshop knew how to operate it. You only need to control those who knew the secret recipe."
Zhu Changluo nodded and said, "Then it depends on you. On September 30, I will take away these workshops and stores."
When Zhu Cheng returned to the mourning hall, Zhu Youjian asked with concern: "What's the matter with your father?"
Zhu Cheng told Zhu Youjian all the words and deeds of the prince. Zhu Youxiao was gritting his teeth when he heard it beside him, saying, "How can the emperor do this? I'll ask him to reason with him. My brother will be a foreign king in the future, and his income will depend on the court's funding. Life must be very tight. Now he has finally found a way to make money. How can he snatch it away?"
Zhu Youjian's tears rolled down like pearls with broken threads. He was not sad about losing these industries, but about Zhu Changluo's cruelty.
Seeing Zhu Youjian's tears, Zhu Youxiao was so angry that he stamped his feet and shouted to find the prince. Li Jinzhong was so scared that he hugged the crown prince tightly.
Zhu Cheng said: "Stop being anxious. I will take advantage of the past two months to think of a perfect solution. Maybe the emperor has changed his mind, maybe I have developed a new product. In short, Grandpa Huang asked me to take good care of you and protect you. I will definitely do it."
Chapter completed!