My uncle is Zhu Di

Chapter 187 Zhu Gaochi Doesn’t Believe

Zhu Gaochi came to Xu Huizu's study and chatted with Xu Huizu. After dinner, Zhu Gaochi went to Xu Qin's courtyard and drank tea in Xu Qin's study.

"It's still spacious here. I lived here for a long time when I was a kid." Zhu Gaochi sat down and said with emotion. When Zhu Di was the Prince of Yan, he was stationed in Beijing. But sometimes when Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to see his grandson, he would ask the Princess of Yan, Empress Xu, to bring them back to Beijing. For many things, Empress Xu did not live in the Prince of Yan's mansion, but lived here.

"Well, I don't have any feelings. I was in my teens when I moved out, but I became familiar with that place. By the way, cousin, do you have something to talk to me about?" Xu Qin asked after making tea for Zhu Gaochi.

"Yes, does Zhang Kejian know?" Zhu Gaochi said while sitting there and sighing.

Xu Qin laughed when he heard this. Everyone knew Zhang Kejian. He was the real prodigal son and the Crown Princess's younger brother. It was understandable that he could do something intentional and still make a loss.

"You kid!" Zhu Gaochi pointed at Xu Qin, then sighed and said, "I have no choice. I don't have the energy to take care of him. So you help me take care of him. You can beat him as much as you want, but don't let him cause any big trouble for me. You don't know, this kid actually took my 200,000 taels to purchase goods and bought handicrafts, but he couldn't send them to the Trade Bureau. You have the final say in the Trade Bureau, so I went to find your cousin's wife. Your cousin's wife is very worried."

"Ah, me, cousin, do you think I have time to take care of him? Don't cheat me." Xu Qin waved his hands and said when he heard it. Zhang Kejian himself knew that he had beaten him three times. This kid was also a rough and timid person. If you say he was very bad, that's true. He just has no brains.

"Please help me, I really have no other choice. You don't know how much this kid annoys me. When I become rich in the future, this kid will come to touch me every day. You said, I brought this kid up, and I arranged for him to get married and start a family, eh." Zhu Gaochi said with a sigh.

"I dare not. It would be terrible if I couldn't help but beat him. Don't cause trouble for me." Xu Qin still waved his hand and said.

Zhu Gaochi was very happy when he heard this, and immediately said, "Don't worry, beat him up. Really, I want to beat him up too, but I can't catch him. It's the same with your cousin's wife. Every time she wants to beat him up, she runs away. I will beat him up hard, Sakyabao, please help me, help me settle him down."

Xu Qin rubbed his head and said to Zhu Gaochi, "Cousin, you want him to be an official in the Trade Bureau? Aren't you afraid that he will cause you even more trouble?"

"This!" Zhu Gaochi hesitated after hearing Xu Qin's words. He knew that this guy was someone who could cause trouble. He then stared at Xu Qin and asked, "So what do you mean?"

"Doesn't he like making money? Set up a workshop, and then sell the products through the Trade Bureau. If they really have advantages, we can sell them to ordinary people, but we need to watch out for what they do. Also, will this kid go to gamble? If he doesn't go, it's okay, he just eats, drinks and has fun, and won't spend much money. But if he goes to gamble, then there's nothing we can do. I suggest you stay out of it." Xu Qin said to Zhu Gaochi.

"No way, this kid knows that he doesn't have the brains for it. He just wants to make money, so he does all kinds of business, but he always loses money. I have to admit that I have never seen such a stupid person." Zhu Gaochi waved his hand and said, he was very familiar with his brother-in-law.

"Then let him open a workshop. Let him bring his goods to me. I will take all the goods at the cost price, and then use the money to set up a workshop and let him make money. If you bring it to the Trade Bureau, I guess I will either cheat you or me. Anyway, it is definitely not a good thing for us." Xu Qin looked at Zhu Gaochi and said.

"Okay, I'll listen to you. I'll let him come to you in the next two days. I'm also very worried. Don't you know how much money he has lost from me? Your cousin's wife also spoils him. But, it seems that I have to do without spoiling him. You can't say how bad he is. Sometimes he loses so much that you can't do anything about it. My salary over the years has basically been lost by him." Zhu Gaochi slapped his thigh and said to Xu Qin.

Xu Qin laughed after hearing this, and then he thought of what his father had reminded him of, so he said to Zhu Gaochi: "Cousin, the Daming Daily is out now. I read it and it's not bad. But what's the reaction from the civil officials now?"

"Not bad, right? I did as you said. Now there is no reaction from the civil officials." Zhu Gaochi said with a smile. He was also happy to hear Xu Qin say it was not bad.

"No response?" Xu Qin asked Zhu Gaochi.

Zhu Gaochi was such a smart man that he understood everything immediately. He immediately stared at Xu Qin and said, "Have you heard any news? If you have any, just tell me. Don't play dumb with me."

"I don't know. I don't have any information. I just feel it's abnormal. Just think about it. If many of the people in the Daming Daily were killed, and you continue to recruit a group of people, and they find ways to kill again, think about it, who would dare to work there? What will Daming Daily do?" Xu Qin looked at Zhu Gaochi and asked. After hearing this, Zhu Gaochi stood up excitedly, stared at Xu Qin and said, "Impossible? Do they have such courage?"

"Cousin, this is not a matter of courage. They don't want to be infamous for eternity. Think about it, those newspapers publish the deeds of those corrupt officials. It can be said that the entire Ming Dynasty knows about it. Those civil officials are afraid? If they are good officials, they are happy. But let those civil officials ask themselves, how many of them really care about the people?" Xu Qin stared at Zhu Gaochi and asked back.

Zhu Gaochi put his hands behind his back and began to pace in Xu Qin's study. He then shook his head and said, "It's unlikely. How dare they do such a thing? This is simply going against my father. This will not be good for them."

Xu Qin immediately smiled and said, "Cousin, don't underestimate them. You will know how powerful they are when they unite. Even though they quarrel endlessly in the court, they are secretly united. Although they have differences, they are united in facing the issue of imperial power."

"Well, I still find it a little unbelievable. They don't have the courage to do so." Zhu Gaochi still firmly believed that they did not have such courage. After hearing this, Xu Qin stopped persuading them. Anyway, he had reminded them of what he should remind, and what to do was Zhu Gaochi's will.

The next morning, when Xu Qin was on his way to the Trade Bureau, he heard the newsboy selling newspapers. Xu Qin took a look, stopped his horse, asked someone to buy a few copies, took one for himself, and came to the Trade Bureau. Today Xu Qin was going to start loading the goods, so Xu Qin needed to go and keep an eye on it.

Arriving at the Trade Bureau, Xu Qin came to the office, and almost all the young men had also arrived. When they saw Xu Qin coming, they were stunned for a moment. Xu Qin came here very rarely. Since the establishment of the Trade Bureau, most of the young men had only seen Xu Qin twice. The first meeting was at Cuiyueju, and the second meeting was for their appointment.

"The Earl of Haozhou is here?" All the young men gathered around and bowed to Xu Qin.

"Well, let's discuss it later. We will start loading the ship today and see who is willing to go out to sea." Xu Qin nodded and said to them.

"That's good, that's good!" Those people were very happy when they heard that they were going to load the ship. Although they were receiving high salaries now, they had not yet brought value, and they were also worried about instability. They would only feel at ease when the Trade Bureau made money.

"Well, you guys take a break first and finish the things you are doing. I will send someone to inform you later!" Xu Qin said to them. He returned to his office and started reading the newspaper. The first page was the promotion of Ming Dynasty's policies and the Ming Dynasty's disaster relief for the people. The second page was the handling of corrupt officials. The third page was the people's praise for some good officials. The fourth page was the changes in the lives of the people in the capital. The fifth page was about the training of the army and so on.

Xu Qin sat there flipping through the documents and saw that this time the writer was also a third-rank minister. Xu Qin knew there might be trouble because that group of people would not allow the court to know about the corruption of those officials.

It is said that the salaries of officials in the Ming Dynasty are low nowadays, but for many officials, salary is only a part of their income. Most of their income still comes from tributes from below and collusion with businessmen. As for the officials below, their income is much more. They use various means to make up excuses, seize wealth by trickery, and plunder the people's wealth, etc.

As for the Censorate, it was actually also composed of civil officials. Although some young and inexperienced people would still impeach some officials, most of them were exposed because of the struggles between internal factions. Otherwise, they would not take the initiative to investigate unless something big happened and Zhu Di needed an explanation.

The entire Censorate said that they were working diligently and were busy every day, but most of the work was just to fool Zhu Di.

That is why Zhu Di attached so much importance to Jinyiwei and Xichang. If he just listened to the reports of the officials below without doing any investigation, it would not only be a matter of empty talk, but also be led by the nose. Zhu Di did not want to suffer this.

In the residence of Ouyang Yun, the Minister of Personnel, he looked at the newspaper with a dark face and said resentfully: "I really don't know what those officials do for a living. They still allow the Ming Daily to continue to be published. If it continues to be published and the people completely accept it, then our life will be difficult."

A member of the Ministry of Personnel next to him smiled and said, "Sir, I also feel that something is wrong. These past few days, all the restaurants in the capital have been discussing the issue of punishing corrupt officials. If this continues, I'm afraid it will have a great impact on our reputation."

(End of this chapter)