In Hongwu, we started as rebels

Chapter 959 The Young God of Wealth
Shenshi 2:45, approximately 3:30 PM

The summer heat had not yet dissipated, and the sunlight changed from a blazing white to a warm color, spreading out across the imperial road of the city.

Looking at the walls on both sides, the air itself seemed somewhat distorted.

Lu Yunyi followed the chief eunuch into the palace.
The bluestone slabs on the ground were swept clean, and a somber atmosphere permeated the entire palace.

Unlike last time, there were many more Imperial Guards this time.

Even in the square, soldiers in armor stood quietly.

Before long, the two arrived at the Wuying Hall, where Marquis Guo Ying, who was on duty at the entrance, was also wearing armor.

He was holding a large palm-leaf fan and fanning himself vigorously.

But that couldn't stop the hot sweat from slowly trickling down his forehead.

Upon seeing Lu Yunyi arrive,
Guo Ying immediately stopped what she was doing and looked him up and down carefully, as if she had seen a ghost.

Lu Yunyi's expression was strange as he cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

"My lord, why do you look at me like that?"

Guo Ying snapped out of her daze, smiled, shook her head, and said in a loud voice:
"This is the first time I've seen such a young God of Wealth, so I'll take a second look."

Lu Yunyi chuckled and followed the chief eunuch into the Wuying Hall.

The cool air that hits you makes you feel good.
The faint sandalwood incense that filled the hall was refreshing and invigorating, creating a sense of comfort.

He noticed that the atmosphere in the hall was more relaxed than usual.

Even the palace maids and eunuchs seemed much more relaxed.

Sure enough, upon reaching the next seat,
Lu Yunyi immediately spotted Zhu Yuanzhang at the head of the table, who was smiling broadly, though the smile was rather faint.
But compared to the serious look on his face that used to be, it's much better now.

"Your subject Lu Yunyi pays his respects to Your Majesty."

Hearing the noise, Zhu Yuanzhang raised his gaze from the documents and looked down.
The smile on his lips didn't disappear; instead, the curve of his smile grew wider and wider, though it was fleeting.

But the head eunuch beside him was certain that he hadn't misread it.
His Majesty is genuinely happy.

"The Left Army Commander-in-Chief's Office has submitted a memorial proposing to rebuild the official road with Beiping as the core. What do you think?"

Lu Yunyi was taken aback for a moment, then understood.

The officials of the Governor's Office were adept at navigating interpersonal relationships. Just as he was pondering when to submit a memorial mentioning this matter, someone had already taken care of it for him.

After a moment's hesitation, Lu Yunyi quickly organized his thoughts and said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, I believe this is a good thing that benefits the country and its people."

"Why?"

"In my opinion, it is worthwhile for the court to spend its money on military and people's livelihood, no matter how much it costs."

The reconstruction of the official roads would greatly benefit the economy and people's livelihood in the north, as well as military deployment.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, his gaze returning to the document, and said calmly:

"Paving such roads is quite expensive."
The construction alone, stretching from Beiping to Henan and Shanxi, would cost nearly a million taels of silver.

"Your Majesty, I have built a road in Daning leading to Shanhaiguan, which is 800 li long and cost no more than 300,000 taels of silver."

The cost of repairing the road from Beiping to Shaanxi and Henan wouldn't even be a million taels of silver.

"hehe."

Zhu Yuanzhang chuckled, his tone tinged with mockery:

"Can the cost of building a road in a remote and sparsely populated area be the same as that of building a road in the prosperous Guanzhong Plain?"

There were hundreds of government officials at all levels along the way, involving thousands of officials and tens of millions of ordinary people.
"If you can't feed them, how can you even finish building this road?"

Lu Yunyi feigned sudden realization and quickly bowed:
"Your Majesty is foolish and only realized after Your Majesty's reminder that the areas inside and outside the pass are not comparable."

Seeing his expression, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly lost interest and waved his hand:
"Enough! Stop putting on airs in front of me. Who are you trying to fool with your pretense?"

"I am aware of my guilt."

“Roads need to be built in the north, but the imperial court has no money. You need to find a solution.”

Lu Yunyi suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with shock.

You... you just agreed like that?

In his vision, even if the goal was to create a commercial center centered on Beiping,

The road repair project alone has been dragging on for at least a year or two due to the wrangling and disputes among the various parties.

Construction is unlikely to actually begin for another two or three years.

Things went so smoothly, I never expected.

He hadn't even made sufficient preparations, nor had he rallied enough people to push this matter forward.

"Your Majesty, the Market and Trade Bureau is in charge of all trade and commerce in the land."

With the nation's finances currently strained, the Market Exchange Bureau is duty-bound to step up.

The Market and Commerce Bureau will do its utmost to allocate funds for all expenses related to road construction in the north.

Upon hearing this, the palace maids, eunuchs, and the head eunuch present...
Everyone felt a wave of nouveau riche extravagance emanating from them.

It's astonishing that someone could take millions of taels of silver so easily.

Zhu Yuanzhang was very satisfied with Lu Yunyi's response, nodded slightly, and his voice deepened:
"Since the official road in the north is going to be built, let's make it quick and build the road connecting the north and south together."

Having said that, he handed the document in his hand to the chief eunuch beside him:

"Show him."

"Yes."

The head eunuch carried the document to the lower seat and handed it to Lu Yunyi.

Lu Yunyi took the document, and couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion.

This emperor is truly generous, deeply understanding the principle that money in one's hands is just worthless paper.
Instead of keeping the money you've just earned, you want to spend it as soon as possible.

He opened the document, and what came into view was a simple geomantic map that had been reduced countless times in size.

The map extends outwards from Yingtian as the center in all four directions.

It extends north to Beiping, northwest to Xi'an, south to Ji'an Prefecture in Jiangxi, and southwest to Kunming Prefecture in Yunnan.

If such a road were built, its total length would probably exceed ten thousand miles.

Even if laborers were conscripted from various places without being paid,
The cost of raw materials alone is an astronomical figure.

If it were two months ago,
Even if the imperial court had such a plan, it would never dare to bring it up for discussion.
No other reason than that I have no money.

For the imperial court, without money, nothing can be done.
It is absolutely impossible to get local governments to honestly hand over money.

But now, the imperial court is rich, and very rich.

"Can it be repaired?"

Seeing that he had not spoken for a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang became somewhat anxious and asked.

Lu Yunyi closed the document, bowed deeply, and spoke in a firm and resonant voice:

"Your Majesty, it can certainly be repaired!"
The construction of such roads benefits the country and its people, and the Market Regulation Bureau will fully support it!

As soon as the words were spoken, the pupils of everyone present suddenly contracted.
Even Zhu Yuanzhang was somewhat shocked that the Market Exchange Bureau was so wealthy.
He felt his aged heart pounding faster, took a deep breath, and waved his hand:

"Go down."

A hint of regret flashed in the head eunuch's eyes, but he quickly urged the palace maids and eunuchs to leave.

Before long, only Zhu Yuanzhang at the head of the table and Lu Yunyi at the foot of the table remained in the Wuying Hall, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

After a long pause, Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice:
How much surplus does the Market and Exchange Bureau have?

coming!

Lu Yunyi's eyes were serious. He straightened his back and said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, this matter is still in progress. The land in our hands is still being transferred, and the final accounts have not yet been finalized."

However, before this morning,
The Market and Exchange Bureau, with its forty-one branches, had a remaining balance of 9.4 million taels of silver after deducting outstanding debts, and also held 430,000 mu of land.

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang gripped his robe tightly with his hand under the table, the veins on his withered palms standing out, and even his breathing became rapid!

He picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and after a long pause, spoke:
What are the plans for the subsequent disposal of the farmland?

"Your Majesty, the remaining land will be sealed by the Market and Exchange Bureau and will no longer be sold, in order to stabilize land prices in the capital region."

If anyone spreads rumors or uses such methods to suppress land prices again in the future...

The Market and Exchange Bureau also has countermeasures in place.
They won't just watch land prices fall because they have no land of their own.

Zhu Yuanzhang quickly understood the reasoning behind it.
This is similar to how the imperial court issued paper money, and the treasury had to have silver reserves to support it.

But he still felt a little regretful; if he had sold all the land for thirty taels...
He simply couldn't imagine how long the imperial court could enjoy such a life of wealth.

“You did the right thing. The imperial estates and the land owned by various government departments cannot be moved at will. It is just right for the Market and Exchange Bureau to hold these lands.”

At this moment, Lu Yunyi's expression turned solemn, and he bowed deeply to the person below him.
"Your Majesty, there is something on my mind that I must speak out."

"Say!"

"Your Majesty, although the Market and Exchange Bureau has won a great victory and made a fortune in this incident..."
However, it also set a precedent, showing many people how to profit from price fluctuations.

Especially those big households,
Even though they stirred up trouble in the capital region, the imperial court was still able to deal with it.

However, if officials and businessmen collude in local areas and use such methods to suppress land, housing prices, and even salt and rice prices, it is ultimately the people in those areas who will suffer.

As far as I know, the wealthiest families involved in this turmoil have lost their life savings of a century in an instant.
I do not believe they will give up so easily; they will surely try to make up for it elsewhere.

The capital city has a market exchange office in charge.

However, the Ming Dynasty had many provinces, and local government offices had never experienced this before, so they were inevitably lax in their precautions.

If these people were allowed to seize all the land owned by the common people,

Rebellions are likely to break out in various places; Your Majesty, please investigate carefully.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned.
The joy in my heart vanished, replaced by worry.

The world is never short of smart people.
If someone makes money using this method, others will inevitably follow suit, and very quickly!

Previously, Yingtian Trading Company had made a fortune.

Within a year, similar trading companies sprang up in various prefectures and cities, small in scale but with a wide variety of goods.

Now that there are faster ways to make money, why wouldn't they learn them?

“You’re right. Some people with ill intentions will definitely follow suit.”

"I believe that, in addition to official lands and military farms, the three local government offices should reserve some land and money that can be traded in order to prevent such situations from occurring."

Zhu Yuanzhang fell into deep thought.

According to the laws of the imperial court, both government-owned land and military farms were prohibited from being traded.
Even if local officials privately handed over these lands to others for cultivation and lined their own pockets.
The accounts still belong to the government and cannot be falsified.

But if the local three authorities were to control the tradable land,
This will inevitably breed corruption and collusion between insiders and outsiders.
There is even a possibility that local officials and merchants collude to suppress land prices and enrich themselves.

After pondering for a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that this matter could not be resolved in a short time, and said calmly:
"I am aware of this matter, and I will order the Six Ministries and the Hanlin Academy to discuss it."

Lu Yunyi bowed deeply:
"Your Majesty is wise. I have another matter to report."

"explain."

"When I came here, I passed through Henan."

Seeing that the flood control dikes are progressing smoothly, the Yellow River has been confined within its channel.

However, due to the overwhelming enthusiasm of the people, many flocked to the construction site to work.
They even refused wages and brought their own food, which led to the project progressing far beyond expectations.

Li Zhigang, who was in charge of this matter, told me,
Originally planned for a three-year construction period, the project is now nearly completed in just over a year and a half.
The people's enthusiasm remained high, but the imperial court was slow to release the funds for the subsequent projects, which greatly troubled him.

In my opinion, controlling the Yellow River's waterway is more important than building roads.
We humbly request Your Majesty to allocate funds to continue the operation of the Henan flood control project.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly, recalling the matter as well.

He straightened up and rummaged through the table for a moment.

The documents submitted by Li Zhigang, a councilor from Henan, were quickly located.

Upon opening the package, the project was indeed progressing rapidly, but the money was already gone.

After a moment's thought, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the numbers on the document and said in a deep voice:

"Li Zhigang wants two million taels of silver. You once served as the Vice Minister of Works. How long will that amount of money last?"

"Your Majesty, there are currently over 60,000 laborers working on the flood control projects in Henan."
If we focus all our efforts on repairing the river, this amount of silver will be enough to last until the rainy season next year.

"Approved. The silver will be allocated tomorrow, through the Market Exchange Bureau, not through the Ministry of Revenue or the Ministry of Works."

Lu Yunyi raised an eyebrow, a strange glint in his eyes, and continued:
"Your Majesty, the amount of silver is enormous."
If we don't go through the Six Ministries, it will likely cause many inconveniences when reconciling accounts later.

"The Market and Exchange Bureau is also an official government office, on par with the Six Ministries. As long as the Market and Exchange Bureau seals and preserves the accounts, what inconvenience is there?"

After a pause, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed with emotion:
"Among scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, although merchants have the lowest social status, their power is immense."

The imperial court had previously neglected this matter.
Going forward, we must streamline and manage the process more carefully, and avoid the disorderly development of the past.

"As Your Majesty commands, I will allocate the funds upon returning to my office."

After speaking, Lu Yunyi lowered his voice:
"Your Majesty, I intend to return the silver that was previously transferred from the Imperial Treasury tonight."

Even with the Imperial Guards watching over it, keeping this silver out in the open is still not entirely secure.

Zhu Yuanzhang raised an eyebrow: "Hmm."

"My minister retire."

As Lu Yunyi walked out of the Wuying Hall, he immediately saw a row of palace maids and eunuchs standing at the entrance, as well as a red-robed chief eunuch standing with his hands at his sides.

His eyes darted around, he took a few steps closer, and said softly:
"Father-in-law, may I speak to you in private?"

Everyone was shocked by his actions.
Marquis Guo Ying, who was about to step forward, widened his eyes.

Which song is this from?
Officials from the outer court actually wanted to have a private conversation with eunuchs from the inner court.
The head eunuch was also quite frightened. After hesitating for a long time, he followed Lu Yunyi to the side.

Lu Yunyi lowered his voice:
"Please inform His Majesty that the silver sent back tonight will be two million taels more."

The head eunuch suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with shock and horror!
He was the one who orchestrated sending the silver out of the palace in the first place.
He even personally counted the numbers.

I was afraid something would go wrong, and I was also afraid that this money would be the last time I saw it.

Unexpectedly, just two months later, there were two million taels more!

Turning one million into three million? Even robbery wouldn't happen that fast!
"This... Lord Lu, are you talking about silver?" the head eunuch stammered.

He had served in the former Yuan imperial palace and later in the Daming Palace for twenty years.
He considered himself knowledgeable and privy to countless secrets.
But today's events still made him feel like he was dreaming.

"My lord, it is naturally silver. Among them, the paper money will be used by the Market Exchange Department to stabilize land prices in the capital."

The head eunuch let out a long sigh, his eyes still filled with shock:
"Lord Lu, you must choose the right person to deliver the silver, lest something go wrong at the last step."

"Please rest assured, Your Excellency, Xu Zengshou will be in charge of the transportation, and the accompanying soldiers will all be Imperial Guards."

"That's good, that's good."

"I have another request, which I hope you will grant, sir."

Lu Yunyi changed the subject.

The chief eunuch instantly became alert, and most of his joy dissipated.

In the past, even when nobles asked him for favors, he could always refuse without hesitation.
But he really didn't know how to refuse this god of wealth in front of him.
Especially since the other party had just earned so much money for the palace, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them their provider.

"Please speak, Lord Lu."

"That's right. Some of the junior eunuchs in the Divine Palace Administration have been working very hard these past two months, running around doing all sorts of things."
I have never treated those who have done my job unfairly, and I am going to give them a reward.

However, I have heard that there are many rules in the palace that are beyond one's control. I would like to ask Your Excellency to be more considerate and prevent those with ulterior motives from embezzling their hard-earned money.

The head eunuch was stunned for a moment, a hint of emotion appearing in his eyes.

He also worked his way up from a lowly eunuch.

In the past, most of his monthly salary was given as tribute, and he knew all too well how difficult it was to make a living in the palace.

Although the Imperial Palace Administration is special, it cannot escape those rules.
Once the silver reached the hands of the eunuchs, it was inevitable that it would be embezzled at each level.

Thinking of this, the head eunuch nodded:

"Don't worry, Lord Lu, I will discuss this matter with Minister Wen."

"Thank you, sir. I'll take my leave now."

"Sir, walk slowly."

After seeing Lu Yunyi off, the chief eunuch called the palace maids and eunuchs back to the palace to await orders.

He walked at the front, running quickly towards the head of the group, his face flushed and his eyes filled with barely suppressed excitement.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked up and frowned:

"How can you be so flustered?"

"Your Majesty! Great news! Incredibly good news!"

The head eunuch tried to lower his voice:
"Lord Lu just said that the silver sent back tonight will be two million taels more!"

Zhu Yuanzhang froze on the spot, his hand holding the vermilion brush clenching tightly, somewhat incredulous.

Based on his twenty years of experience as emperor,
Once the silver from the imperial treasury reached the hands of the Six Ministries and the Governor-General's Office,

There was absolutely no reason to turn back, and as the emperor, he couldn't very well ask for it back.

Now that the Market Controller has offered to return the silver, he is already very satisfied.

Unexpectedly, there was an even bigger surprise!

"Great!"

Zhu Yuanzhang leaned back in his chair, feeling that most of the day's troubles had dissipated. Even as an emperor, having money in his hands made him feel exceptionally at ease.

"The capital city will be under martial law tonight; we absolutely cannot afford any mistakes."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"What did Consort Ning say she wanted to buy from Hongfenglou a few days ago?"

"Your Majesty, this is a new gold hairpin from Hongfenglou, depicting an immortal riding a crane. I've heard it's made of Goryeo jewels and real gold, and it costs three thousand taels of silver."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned:
"What kind of crap is so expensive?"

"Your Majesty, harmony in the family brings prosperity in all things. There have been many matters in the palace lately, and Consort Ning has become quite haggard."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said helplessly:
"Never mind, let's go buy it."

(End of this chapter)