My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 131: Unprecedented Ideas
On New Year's Eve, Zhu Yuanzhang woke up at five in the morning because he had a lot of things to do that day.

It was still dark, but the palace was brightly lit, and the palace maids and eunuchs were busy in an orderly manner.

Pasting Spring Festival couplets, door gods, hanging lanterns, decorating the courtyard, and preparing New Year's Eve dinner, the entire palace presents a festive and peaceful scene.

Zhu Yuanzhang had just put on his clothes with the help of palace maids and eunuchs when the princes came one after another to pay their respects.

Then came the ancestor worship, and then the grand court assembly. Although it was called a court assembly, in reality it was a banquet for entertaining all civil and military officials and envoys from all over the world, rewarding them with festival money, and congratulating each other on the new year. The monarch and his subjects were like one family, and everyone was very happy.

After the banquet, Zhu Yuanzhang finally had some free time. He couldn't wait to go to the Buddhist temple to see if Li Han had replied.

When you enter the Buddhist hall, what catches your eye are piles and piles of colorful toys in different sizes and shapes. Some are round like large cloth stakes for sitting on, and some are long and thin, like wooden sticks.

These things are all wrapped in golden or red paper, which looks very festive.

Zhu Yuanzhang was a little surprised. What new thing did Old Li send him?

He walked closer and looked carefully for a while, and guessed, could these things be fireworks?

But why would Lao Li send himself fireworks?

Fireworks were not uncommon in the Ming Dynasty. Starting from the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, fireworks were set off in the palace every day. Firstly, it was to ward off evil spirits. Secondly, it was for the sake of happiness and good luck. Thirdly, the emperor's grandchildren also loved to watch fireworks. During the New Year, this was what they looked forward to the most.

It was just that this was the first time he had seen such strange fireworks. It was New Year’s Day, so Mr. Li just wanted to have some fun.

But it seems that he still has a childish heart.

Looking at the fireworks piled up on the ground, Zhu Yuanzhang also felt a bit of childish fun. On New Year's Eve, he would set off fireworks with his grandchildren. They loved this thing the most, so he would join in the fun and enjoy the family happiness.

He found the envelope on the Buddhist table and read it carefully.

"Happy New Year, Lao Zhu. Although we are far apart, our hearts are connected at this moment.

It is the thousands of years of Chinese civilization that transcends time and space and connects us together. A bosom friend is a friend indeed. This line of poetry is the best portrayal of the friendship between you and me! "

These words made Zhu Yuanzhang feel warm in his heart. When he thought that somewhere, perhaps at the very end of the world, there was a confidant who shared the same thoughts as him, his eyes became moist.

"Today, Ming has begun to enter the threshold of industrialization. With the rapid growth of the output of various commodities, it has also initially met the conditions for conducting overseas trade.

Regarding the question you mentioned about how to organize the noble princes to conduct overseas trade, I kept it a secret at first, but now it’s time to reveal the answer.”

Old Li, we've been waiting for half a year, and finally you have the answer!

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled bitterly. Old Li is good in every way except his habit of keeping people in suspense. I wonder if he can change his habit of keeping people in suspense.

After more than half a year of communication, I still have many unknown questions that Lao Li has not answered.

As for how to organize the voyage, he had never thought of a good solution. The class of nobles and princes was too special. They were all royal relatives and had close ties with them.

Just like Zhu Di married Xu Da's daughter, the first Crown Princess was Chang Yuchun's daughter, and Lan Yu was Chang Yuchun's brother-in-law, and Lan Yu's daughter was engaged to his own son Zhu Chun...

Using marriage to win over nobles was something emperors often did. Therefore, the group of nobles was the class that Zhu Yuanzhang relied on the most in the Ming Dynasty court.

Otherwise, Old Li would not have conceived of supporting nobles and princes as a new interest class to balance the old interest class represented by landlords and gentry.

These are all conceived based on actual situations.

But how to strike a balance between the nobles and the princes, to prevent them from fighting among themselves and colluding with each other. This is a big problem. The way of checks and balances, I, Zhu, have not learned thoroughly enough!
After complaining a little in his heart, Zhu Yuanzhang cheered up and continued reading.

"I suggest that we adopt a system of public-private partnership. The public refers to the imperial court, and the private refers to the noble princes.

The expansion of maritime rights and interests and the development of overseas trade should become one of the basic national policies of the Ming Dynasty in the future. It is also one of the two legs of the Ming Dynasty's internal and external development and should be regarded as one of the foundations of the country. Therefore, this matter should be based on the court. This is the public side.

But the main responsibility of the court is not to do business, it also requires specific personnel to carry out the work. At this time, it is the turn of the nobles and princes to take the stage. They represent the "private" side and are the backbone of the specific execution of overseas affairs.

In the entire Ming Dynasty, the only one who can represent the court is you, Zhu, and the only one who can represent the nobles and the princes is you, so you are the only arbitrator and mediator above both of them."

Public-private partnership?

Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it carefully. This was an idea he had never thought of before. It was based on the imperial court, with nobles and princes as the backbone.

In this way, the imperial court and the noble princes will be tied together. In this case, the noble princes cannot do anything without the constraints of the imperial court, and if the civil officials in the court make trouble, they will be further restrained by the nobles!
However, the two parties are not in a life-and-death relationship, because they are bound by common interests. All actions must be based on the general framework of public-private partnership, which ensures order!

This trick is really great!
Besides, if either party crosses the line, you are watching!
“As for how to organize it specifically, our ancestors already had the wisdom in this regard.

Old Zhu, do you know that the elders in the court are bound by stone certificates?"

Are the elders in the court waiting to be bound by the stone certificate?

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned. Although there were not many records in ancient books about the stone certificate of the elders in the court, he actually knew about it.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a village called "Dai Ting Li". In order to pay for ancestor worship and public welfare, the villagers organized themselves to enjoy the rights and interests by "investing equal amounts and according to shares". They named themselves Dai Ting Li Fulao and engraved the relevant information on a stone tablet, which is the "Dai Ting Li Fulao Constraint Stone Certificate".

This is similar to the meaning of private partnership in business.

What Lao Li meant was that since the court and nobles were investing, they could jointly organize the ocean trade according to their investment shares?

"The core of the organization of the Taitingli Elders is the shareholding system, which is what I want to emphasize here!

The shareholding system is easy to understand, that is, each party divides the shares according to the proportion of their respective investment, but the core lies in how the shares should be divided specifically. "

Zhu Yuanzhang understood clearly how the shares were divided. Wasn't it that whoever contributed more would get a larger share?

Could it be possible that Lao Li could come up with some new ideas?

"Let's take you and Xu Da as an example. Anyway, Xu Da is already an old acquaintance in our case."

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help laughing out loud, and he remembered that Lao Li once used Xu Da's example to sell hoes.

"For example, if you and Xu Da form a partnership to trade sugar, and you invest 6,000 guan and Xu Da invests 4,000 guan, the total amount is 10,000 guan. According to common understanding, you own 70% and Xu Da owns 30%, and the dividends are also 70% for you and 30% for him, right?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded repeatedly. Everyone understood this truth. The more you invest, the more dividends you get. It is only natural.

"But if this is the case, you, Zhu, only invest and act as a hands-off manager, not caring about anything else but only wanting dividends, while Xu Da not only has to invest, but also has to go to the West to sell sugar in person, going through wind and rain, not only is it hard work, but there is also the risk of life at sea.

So at this point, Lao Zhu, do you think it would be fair if you still divide it 70% and he 30%? "

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment. He had never considered this before!
With his mouth half open, he thought for a long time, but he couldn't come up with a good solution no matter how hard he racked his brains.

Well, let's admit defeat and see what Lao Li has to say.

(End of this chapter)