I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 101 Zhu Houzhao was deeply moved
Zhu Houzhao looked at Zhu Houxun in surprise and asked curiously, "Strategy? What strategy?"

Especially since all the officials in the court fell into the trap, it aroused Zhu Houzhao's curiosity even more. He had experienced the cunningness of the civil servants in the court.

Qian Ning also looked at Zhu Houxun with horror: No way, can you even make this up?

"That's right!" Zhu Houxuan said leisurely, "I clearly wrote in the letter that I would donate 10% of the total sales of each lottery ticket. I don't know why the officials in the court saw it as half of the profit."

Zhu Houxuan played a word game here. He wanted to donate 10% of the total sales of each lottery ticket. After the Minister of Revenue and the two cabinet ministers read the cost and profit table, they naturally regarded it as half of the profit.
"What's the difference? The total profit is 20% of the total sales. Isn't half of the profit 10%?" Qian Ning hadn't reacted yet.

Zhu Houzhao had already understood and was already showing joy.

"Who said the profit is only 20%?" Zhu Houxun said with a smile.

"This..." Qian Ning finally realized what was going on.

"I said to donate 10% of the sales in order to create a fait accompli and shut up the officials in the court. Then I will give the lottery industry to my brother. Then, if the officials in the court want to share more profits in the future, my brother will have a reason to refute." Zhu Houxuan said softly.

Zhu Houzhao's eyes suddenly blossomed with an extremely dazzling look.
This matter still needs to be discussed from the perspective of the current court environment of the Ming Dynasty.

Since the Battle of Tumu, the nobles of the Ming Dynasty had their backbone broken and they have not recovered for decades, while the civil servants have become increasingly powerful.

After the Chenghua and Hongzhi dynasties, the power of civil officials firmly controlled the court. The power of civil officials reached its highest point and they were still very strong.

The civil servants at that time had not been tortured by Jiajing's grand etiquette!
Zhu Houzhao didn't have the means of Zhu Houcong! Even if Zhu Houzhao could foster Liu Jin to fight against the civil officials and force several cabinet ministers to leave, this could not actually solve the problem. Until now, it is still difficult for Zhu Houzhao to say that he has completely controlled the court, because civil officials must always manage the country, and the imperial power cannot be used to suppress them blindly.

Against this background, Zhu Houzhao suddenly received two particularly profitable industries. The Cuju League was okay, but the lottery industry's ability to make money was really strong.

The civil officials would certainly keep a close eye on Zhu Houzhao's wallet. They were all very clear about Zhu Houzhao's income. Today, they would ask Your Majesty to open more of the treasury for one thing, and tomorrow, they would ask Your Majesty to open more of the treasury for another thing.

So could Zhu Houzhao keep his treasury? The answer is very difficult, as civil servants had many reasons and ways to ask for money.

Some people may ask, didn’t the civil servants also take a bite of the income from the imperial estates and stores?

That’s because the imperial estates and stores have caused public resentment, and the civil servants’ demand is to cancel all the imperial estates and stores, so they will not take this part of the money.

Therefore, it is better to throw out part of the profits at the beginning to shut up the civil servants.

The most interesting thing is that the civil servants understood the donation amount as half of the profit, but can half of the profit be equated with 10% of the sales?
The answer is no.

If the lottery prize is reduced to 60% of the total lottery sales, the profit will be 30% of the total sales.

If the lottery prize is reduced to 50% of the total lottery sales, the profit will be 40% of the total sales. Zhu Houxuan's strategy is to set the amount to be paid to the Ministry of Revenue at 10% of the total sales, and then create a fait accompli before handing the property over to Zhu Houzhao.

In this way, Zhu Houzhao could get more lottery profits.

The officials in the court were very skilled in political tactics, but they were not really aware of this kind of business tactics.

So, is Zhu Houxuan’s strategy effective?
The answer is yes, but not much.

This reason can stop the civil servants temporarily, but it cannot stop them forever.

But this was enough. In Zhu Houzhao's view, Zhu Houchun had put a lot of thought into helping him get more silver, which was very helpful to him. Even though this strategy was not so useful, it was obvious that Zhu Houchun, his good brother, had a sincere heart towards him.

Besides, Zhu Houchun was only 16 years old and didn't know much about court affairs, so it was understandable that he came up with this imperfect plan. After all, Zhu Houzhao himself couldn't handle these civil servants. The most important thing was that Zhu Houchun really had this intention. As for other things, were they important?
Zhu Houxuan had other reasons for doing this. He wanted to use this incident to show the civil servants his style of doing things.

As for why the profit rate of lottery suddenly increased, I don't know. It was the emperor who increased it after he gave the industry to the emperor. What does it have to do with me? I was really prepared to give half of the profit to the Ministry of Revenue. Whether you believe it or not, I believe it anyway.

And in the final analysis, does Zhu Houxun's voluntary donation count as making friends with the court?
Which official accepted the money? Come out now!
No one is collecting the silver! The silver is all in the treasury!

Is this what you call making friends with the court?

The civil servants in the court would only admire the "righteousness of the King of Jing" and then do what they are supposed to do when doing things. Anyway, the money is not in my pocket, so why should I help you?

Everyone present was a smart person, so they naturally figured out the key points quickly.

Zhu Houzhao looked at Zhu Houxun's smiling face and was deeply moved, his heart filled with guilt and joy.

He felt guilty that his trust in Zhu Houchun was not firm enough, and he became so angry with Zhu Houchun just because of someone's provocation, and almost wronged Zhu Houchun, while Zhu Houchun had foolishly given so much for him.

He was glad that he had not misjudged Zhu Houxun, and the feelings he had invested in Zhu Houxun were not wasted.
The most surprising thing is that his younger brother's business talent is simply unprecedented. It has only been a short time, but he has created such a big business.
What a great good deed I did in my previous life! I actually have such a good brother!

Zhu Houxuan's heart was filled with many emotions, and for a moment he was speechless.
When Zhang Yong saw that Zhu Houxuan had explained, he also took the initiative to explain: "There is nothing we can do about the profit sharing of the Cuju League. Those nobles will not do a good job without money. If they hadn't been cleaning up the odds of other football betting, the profit wouldn't be so high."

The profits from football betting are actually not greatly affected by lottery, because the gameplay is novel, gamblers have a high sense of participation, and many people who bet on football really like Cuju, which is something that cannot be replaced by other forms of gambling.

Zhu Houzhao naturally understood Zhang Yong's words easily, but this also made Zhu Houzhao feel even more guilty. Under the urging of various emotions in his heart, Zhu Houzhao made a decision: "Brother, I can't take these two properties of yours."

(End of this chapter)