My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 185 Inheritance
After saying this, Cui Wenyuan gasped heavily, his scalp felt numb, and goose bumps appeared all over his body.

He shocked himself!

At this point he understood what it meant to control the compradors and control the market. Before, he thought that businessmen did business by simply buying low and selling high, but he never thought that there was so much knowledge involved.

The power of trade is so strong that it is unimaginable. It can control the life and death of a country without bloodshed!

Even during this process, the Ming Dynasty was able to continue to make money!

Your Majesty is too terrifying... No, it's really too powerful!

Isn't training Ming compradors in Japan training Japanese traitors?
But, this is really against the way of saints, Cui Wenyuan sighed in his heart. If these words were heard by the group of scholars in the Ministry of Rites or the Honglu Temple, they would jump up and curse, saying that Your Majesty has violated the will of Heaven, and they might even die as a warning and ask Your Majesty to issue an edict of repentance.

However, he was not a pedantic person. He was very willing to realize that the Ming Dynasty could control the life and death of Japan without having to use foreign military force.

"Mr. Cui, what you said is very good. I am very pleased! However, you still haven't considered it far enough!"

It is not profound enough. Could it be that the significance of compradors to the Ming Dynasty is more than just this?

"Your Majesty, please teach me!" Cui Wenyuan respectfully bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang. He really wanted to seek advice.

Although it was a bit of an exaggeration to take His Majesty as his teacher, at this moment, he really regarded Zhu Yuanzhang as a knowledgeable teacher.

"As long as they are businessmen, they would like to control all the business in their own hands. This is not uncommon in our Ming Dynasty. Many bullies and thieves are like this.

But to put it another way, all businessmen want to monopolize their industry!"

monopoly?

Cui Wenyuan was stunned. The word monopoly was not unfamiliar to him as he was well-versed in Confucian classics.

This word can be first seen in the tenth chapter of "Mencius. Gongsun Chouxia", "One must seek to monopolize it and climb it, so as to gain profits from the market by relying on the attention of people from all sides."

The general meaning is to manipulate trade from the high ground of the market, so as to be able to comprehensively observe the market and gain profits. According to Your Majesty, monopoly here means controlling the buying and selling of the industry.

But it's quite appropriate.

Seeing Cui Wenyuan's thoughtful look, Zhu Yuanzhang continued, "Suppose you, a Japanese grain merchant, want to monopolize all grain sales in the Japanese archipelago. Besides obeying the orders of the Ming Dynasty, what else do you need to do?"

"What else do I need to do?"

Cui Wenyuan understood immediately and reacted quickly, but the answer made him sweat profusely. This answer was really against the will of heaven!

It was so exciting that he hesitated for a long time before answering:

“I will use whatever means necessary, even using the power of the Ming Dynasty to suppress other grain merchants in Japan, and I will desperately squeeze the farmers so that they can’t grow crops and produce grain!

I will also try my best to make enemies and become a lonely man, because only in this way can the Ming Dynasty trust me and let me handle all the grain trading.

Moreover, no one in Japan, from the royal family to the ronin, dared to touch me, because I was a grain merchant of the Ming Dynasty. If they touched me, it would be equivalent to declaring war on the Ming Dynasty and cutting off their own livelihood!
In fact, I am already the emperor of Japan!"

After he finished speaking, Cui Wenyuan's legs softened and he knelt on the ground involuntarily, sweating profusely. Before his eyes, he seemed to see countless farmers with no land to farm, homeless and even starving. This was against the will of heaven, it was really against the will of heaven!
Moreover, this is not a conspiracy, but an open conspiracy, and the Japanese asked for it themselves!

If these words were known to the outside world, it would definitely cause an uproar!
"Cui Wenyuan, you are the Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple of the Ming Dynasty, not a Japanese businessman!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's words were like a wake-up call, which made Cui Wenyuan wake up.

"To be kind to the enemy is to be cruel to yourself, Cui Shaoqing, do you remember this?"

Zhu Yuanzhang knew very well what Cui Wenyuan was thinking. It was his heart, which had been well-read in the books of sages, that was playing tricks on him, and he felt sympathy for the Japanese.

So he repeated to him what Li Han had told him.

Being kind to the enemy means being cruel to yourself. When Cui Wenyuan heard this, he suddenly came to his senses. When the Japanese pirates massacred the people of the Ming Dynasty, would their own people have sympathy for the people of the Ming Dynasty?
I'm afraid they will only applaud, because the property looted by the Japanese pirates from the Ming Dynasty is also a bargain for them, right?
Not to mention that many Japanese pirates were just ordinary farmers and merchants when they were in Japan.

I am a fifth-rank official of the Ming Dynasty, how could I not see through this?

Now that the Ming Dynasty is using such gentle means to control Japan and still allows these guys to have food to eat, it is already merciful enough!

"Your Majesty, I was too deeply involved just now. Thank you for your reminder. I will remember it!"

He thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, I have thought of more. In addition to food, can we also set up compradors in other industries?
Just like white sugar, cloth, tea, etc., and the white sugar of the Ming Dynasty is definitely a good thing that all Japanese people are eager to get!"

Cui Wenyuan became more and more excited as he spoke. Zhu Yuanzhang smiled. It seemed that he had successfully cultivated another person who was actively expanding abroad.

He felt a special sense of accomplishment in his heart. Looking at Cui Wenyuan in front of him, he thought of the days when he first communicated with Li Han.

At that time, although I had experienced countless killings and became the founding emperor of a country, in front of Li Han, I was like a child who knew nothing.

It was Lao Li who strengthened his belief in bringing the Ming Dynasty and China to the top of the world.

It was Lao Li who changed his inherent ideas, taught himself what trade and currency are, and allowed him to witness with his own eyes the powerful force of industry!
Now, he has passed on this knowledge and beliefs to Xu Da, Li Wenzhong, Li Min, Yang Siyi, and even the brothers Zhu Biao and Zhu Di, including Cui Wenyuan in front of him.

Lao Li said that inheritance is the characteristic of China, and passing on the knowledge Lao Li taught to others may also be a way of inheritance.

After it was decided that Cui Wenyuan would temporarily take over the post of Minister of the Honglu Temple and preside over the negotiations with the Japanese delegation, Cui Wenyuan took the imperial edict and left. However, Zhu Yuanzhang had more important things to do at this time.

Write back to Li Han!
The impact of Little Soldier Zhang Ga and Bright Sword is visible to the naked eye. At the very least, the people in the palace are now working harder.

Although I don’t know what Li Han wrote in her reply to Zhu Funing, this girl has changed a lot now, and Zhu Yuanzhang doesn’t know whether it is good or bad.

Although Zhu Funing has gotten rid of the gloom of the past few days, she seems to be a little too lively now.

When other princesses had nothing to do, they would read books, look at flowers, or go outings and recite poems. But she was different. She led a group of palace maids and eunuchs to work every day, and she even called it "labor is the most glorious thing."

Old Zhu had scolded her several times, but with little effect. Then he saw that the palace maids and eunuchs, under the leadership of Zhu Funing, were doing a good job in the affairs of the palace, so he just let her do as she pleased.

This also proves once again that the magic of movie publicity is truly amazing!
(End of this chapter)