Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 328 Preparing for Smuggling
It was also drizzling in Hangzhou, and Fu Han found Fu Yuan who was thinking in the study.

Nowadays, there are more and more textile merchants in the southeast, and the monopoly advantage of their Fu family has now disappeared. If they want to share the cake with so many merchants, the profits in their hands will undoubtedly become less and less.

The more merchants enter the textile industry, the more competitive it will become. Not only will they compete on price, but they will also compete on the quality of the cloth and silk itself.

That’s not all, the most crucial thing is that the Fu family’s market share will be divided.

Fu Han was worried that if this continued, the profits of their Fu family would become lower and lower.

After Fu Han's reminder, Fu Yuan seemed to have figured something out. He squinted his eyes and said to himself, "So that's what he was planning."

"He wants us to compete so that he can benefit the people with low prices and high quality products?"

"hehe."

Fu Yuan thought he knew Chen Ce's purpose and was in a good mood.

Fu Han said with a bitter face: "Son, don't always guess what that boy is up to. What should we do next?"

Fu Yuan said calmly: "Dad, you don't have to worry about business issues. Just spend the family money and bribe people who know officials. Build good interpersonal relationships first."

Fu Han nodded, but still couldn't help asking, "And then?"

Fu Yuan said: "The money that can be earned in the southeast and inland areas of Jiangnan is limited. How much money can you earn from the people of the Ming Dynasty?"

"If we take these woven silk fabrics to Ryukyu, Japan, Korea and other countries to sell them, the profit difference will be more than ten times!"

Fu Han's eyes widened and he asked in astonishment, "Are you planning to smuggle?"

Fu Yuan said, "What else? Otherwise, why would I ask Dad to build good relations with the government? The money earned doesn't just belong to our Fu family. It should be distributed to the officials in the southeast."

"As for the profits inland, let them compete!"

……

Beiping, Shuntian Prefecture.

Chen Ce sat in the courtyard in a daze. The weather in late July was still a little hot, even though it was already autumn.

Xu Jing has already received news from the southeast that the Fu family has begun to engage in smuggling.

Everything was progressing in an orderly manner according to the situation arranged by Chen Ce. After the Fu family started smuggling, it wouldn't take long for merchants in the southeast to follow suit.

It was just a small-scale thing in the past, but after Fu Yuan took the lead, the scale of smuggling by merchants in the southeast will become larger and larger, so large that it will be beyond the control of the court!

Liu Wentai came again today to diagnose Chen Ce's physical condition. Rather than a diagnosis, it would be more accurate to say that he was monitoring Chen Ce's physical condition in real time and reporting to Emperor Hongzhi.

When he left, he told Chen Ce that the chief academician of the Imperial College had asked him to go to the college for a talk the next day.

Chen Ce nodded. Although he didn't have much hope that the education in the Ming Dynasty could be reformed according to his ideas, since the other party was willing to ask him to have a chat, it meant that he was not averse to Chen Ce's suggestions.

The next morning, after breakfast, Chen Ce went to the Imperial College.

Xie Duo, the Grand Priest of the Imperial College, was a man in his seventies. He had retired before, but the position of Grand Priest of the Imperial College had always been vacant. Later, Emperor Hongzhi specially invited him back to take the position part-time, which was enough to show how high Xie Duo's status was in the entire Ming Dynasty's education circle.

Xie Duo had a kind face and always wore a benevolent smile. There were a wide variety of books and various bottles and jars in the duty room. When he saw Chen Ce coming, he started to tidy up his own bottles and jars and asked Chen Ce, "What kind of tea do you like to drink?" Chen Ce thought for a moment and said, "Houkui, I guess."

Xie Duo was a little surprised and said, "Not many young people like to drink this kind of tea. Instead, most of them are elderly people. Houkui has lush branches and leaves. It is different from traditional tea and has a mellow taste. Shouldn't you young people prefer softer teas? For example, Longjing, Biluochun, Maofeng, etc."

Chen Ce sighed and said, "I don't have a particular favorite drink. I've tried all of them, but I prefer the Houkui style."

Xie Duo smiled and said, "It's like the metaphor of 'two knives holding a gun' and 'two leaves holding a bud'. The bud hides its edge but shows its tip... You are very sharp, but you like to hide your edge."

"A gentleman hides his abilities and waits for the right time to act."

Chen Ce really didn't expect that he could analyze a person's character from his tea drinking habits, and he actually guessed most of it.

I don’t know whether he really has this ability or it’s just luck, but Chen Ce can’t tell.

Xie Duo made tea for Chen Ce and brewed a pot of Longjing tea for himself.

He asked Chen Ce, "Envoy Liu told me that you want the imperial court to set up another academy to train special talents. What will happen after they are trained? They can't become officials. Instead of doing that, it's better for them to become officials first and then study."

"For example, in the fields of law, finance, engineering, etc., once they become officials, there will naturally be people to teach them step by step."

Chen Ce blurted out: "In three years, the country recruited only more than a hundred Jinshi, but a country cannot be composed of only officials, it also needs people of all kinds."

"As commerce develops, these talents will be needed by the business. Learning a skill to serve the business can also earn more money. For example, among merchants in the Jiangnan area, the average monthly salary of a textile worker is only 300 to 800 wen, but an accountant who is proficient in taxation and finance can get a high salary of 200 or 300 wen."

“Why must we be so obsessed with being an official?”

Xie Duo took a sip of tea and did not refute himself immediately. He just looked at Chen Ce and asked, "From what you said, the country will pay more attention to commercial development in the future?"

Chen Ce said: "Isn't there already this trend?"

Xie Duo smiled and said, "You are a heretic! If you say this to others, aren't you afraid that the Confucians will criticize you?"

Chen Ce said helplessly: "So I am just suggesting it. Whether it can be implemented depends on you."

Xie Duo nodded and said, "The country will definitely not set up such a school, and I will not support the court to do such things."

After a pause, he continued, "But whether such schools will appear among the people is beyond my control."

Chen Ce was stunned for a moment, and said suspiciously: "What Mr. Xie means..."

Xie Duo laughed and said, "The tea is getting cold. Drink some tea. I don't have much fun."

"However, there is an outlier in the Imperial College. Xunri doesn't like Confucianism and his grades are at the bottom, but he is very interested in the finance and taxation of the Ministry of Revenue."

"I heard that the series of reforms in the Ministry of Revenue were all taught by you?"

Chen Ce was stunned. He actually knew all this? Who told him?
Liu Wentai would never know these things. Either Minister Qin told him himself, but Minister Qin obviously didn't have the time, so who else could it be?
"I'll let him meet you later, see if he's interested."

Chen Ce asked: "What's your interest?"

Xie Duo stroked his beard and said, "I heard that you are in poor health and cannot run the academy, but this does not prevent you from bringing out a student and letting him run the academy."

(End of this chapter)