Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 404 Zhu Yunwen's Blueprint! The Third Question!

Yao Guangxiao's expression hardened.

Don't be fooled by the fact that "侯" and "公" differ by only one character.

But this one word difference is like an insurmountable chasm.

Before this, even Zhu Shou himself probably never dared to dream that he would have the opportunity to go further and be granted the title of Duke.

But upon further reflection, it seems quite reasonable.

Zhu Shou was already renowned for his military achievements and fame. Now, he had made outstanding contributions in the campaigns against Siam and Pegu. If he could also help the emperor resolve this matter properly and replenish the national treasury, it would be only natural for him to be granted the title of Duke.

Moreover, from another perspective, since His Majesty has stated that if this matter is accomplished, Zhu Shou will be promoted from Marquis of Zhulu to Duke of Zhulu, then conversely, if this matter is botched, Zhu Shou can forget about the title of Duke again.

If things go wrong, the emperor might become furious and punish them severely.

"Your subject understands!" Yao Guangxiao replied.

Yao Guangxiao already knew how to write a letter to Zhu Shou to advise him.

At Zhu Shou's level of status and position, ordinary gold and silver treasures were of little use to him.

The title of Duke was the most tempting thing for Zhu Shou.

Yang Rong nodded slightly and said, "Your Majesty's method is truly ingenious. If the Marquis of Zhulu wants to become the Duke of Zhulu, he will surely rack his brains and do his best to handle this matter properly."

Changing the subject, Yang Rong continued, "However, even if the supply problem over there is successfully resolved, how should domestic sales be properly arranged?"

"It's not just jade, but also pepper, sappanwood, and various other supplies such as salt."

"If merchants are not allowed to participate in the business, it will be difficult to sell the goods; they can only be sold through government offices at various levels..."

“No need for that,” Zhu Yunwen raised his hand to interrupt Yang Rong.

He was very familiar with the efficiency of the Ming Dynasty government offices and the character of its officials.

The government offices of the Ming Dynasty were simply incapable of handling such matters.

Otherwise, Yang Rong wouldn't have proposed government-supervised, merchant-run operations in the first place.

"I intend to emulate the operating model of the Great Ming Bank and establish the Great Ming Department Store."

"Just as Daming Bank has established branches all over the country, Daming Department Store will also set up stores in various places and implement a unified procurement and management model."

"Daming Department Store sells all kinds of goods, such as salt, rice, oil, tea, sauce, silk fabrics, pots and pans, as well as various farm tools."

"Of course, there are also imported goods, such as jade, pepper, sappanwood, and so on."

"In short, the stores of Daming Department Store should have all kinds of goods from both the north and south."

"People can buy anything they need in one place."

Then, Zhu Yunwen enthusiastically explained in detail how a department store manages its inventory and how it sets up storefronts for sales.

Fearing they might not understand, he explained in great detail.

In Zhu Yunwen's vision, the items sold by the Daming Department Store should be all-encompassing, covering all aspects of people's daily lives.

Everything you need for food, clothing, housing, and transportation can be purchased at Daming Department Store in one stop.

This plan had been brewing in his mind for a long time.

Since the Ming Dynasty began its industrialization process, government-established factories have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, producing an ever-increasing variety and quantity of products.

However, despite Zhu Yunwen's measures to deregulate and his active implementation of various policies to stimulate business prosperity,

However, the pace of trade development is still far behind.

At the very least, it was far from what Zhu Yunwen had expected.

After improving various technologies through scientific methods and introducing advanced management models and production processes, the production efficiency of each factory in the Daming Factory rose sharply like a rocket.

What used to be a time-consuming and labor-intensive production process has now become efficient and fast.

The most direct manifestation of this change is the sharp drop in prices of various products closely related to people's daily lives.

Take shovels for example. In the past, an ordinary shovel would typically cost as much as fifty coins on the market.

In that era, an ordinary day laborer could only earn around twenty coins a day after a hard day's work.

Only those experienced and skilled craftsmen could barely earn forty or fifty coins a day.

According to this calculation, an ordinary person would have to work for two and a half days without eating or drinking to save enough money to buy a shovel.

But now, the price of shovels produced by the Daming factory has been halved again and again, dropping to about five coins, which is only one-tenth of the original price!

Moreover, the shovels produced in the factory are made of high-quality steel, which is worlds apart from those made in ordinary blacksmith shops. They are more sturdy and durable, and easier to use.

Not only shovels, but also hoes, iron pots, rice bowls, and even various household tools produced in the factory are all like this.

As time went on, the factory's production capacity continued to increase, the variety of goods became more and more abundant, and the cost of production became increasingly lower.

This is precisely the terrifying power of large-scale industrial production.

If these high-quality and inexpensive goods can reach the people smoothly, it will undoubtedly greatly improve their productivity and living standards.

However, the ideal is full, but the reality is very skinny.

While production is booming, sales seem to be mired in difficulties.

In the surrounding areas of Nanjing, as well as in economically prosperous and commercially developed major cities such as Suzhou, Yangzhou, and Shanghai, the products sold relatively smoothly and at relatively low prices.

However, once outside these prosperous areas, in other ordinary counties and cities, the people there did not enjoy the benefits brought by industrialization.

The prices of many goods remain ridiculously high, not much different from before.

The main reason for this is that the number of merchants selling goods is still relatively small.

Many places still follow the original small-scale farming economic model of self-production and self-sales.

A small number of merchants who sell factory goods have almost monopolized the buying and selling channels.

With goods in short supply in the market, merchants are in an absolute dominant position and have no incentive to lower prices.

In their view, since the goods can be easily sold even at high prices, why should they voluntarily lower the price?
Wouldn't it be better to earn more money?
A free market economy can only fully exert its regulatory role in a fully competitive market environment.

The more intense the competition, the more efficiently the market mechanism can operate.

The advantages of a free market economy are then fully demonstrated.

Conversely, in areas where competition is insufficient, the "invisible hand" of the market may prove ineffective.

At this point, the "visible hand" of the state needs to intervene and carry out macro-control.

To ensure market fairness, enhance its vitality, and ensure that the fruits of industrialization truly benefit every citizen.

Not to mention, the imperial court could invest a huge amount of money, hundreds of times more than wealthy merchants, to build its own logistics system and warehousing facilities, and establish close connections with factories and raw material suppliers.

In this way, many intermediate steps can be avoided, greatly reducing costs.

Moreover, this operating model can control the quality and price of goods from the source, ensuring that every product can enter the market at a more affordable price, bringing tangible benefits to the general public.

In addition, Daming Department Store possesses a crucial advantage: it is able to effectively counter local protectionist forces.

In this day and age, local protectionist forces can be deeply entrenched, ubiquitous, and far-reaching in their influence.

For example, suppose a businessman from another region purchases a batch of high-quality iron pots from a factory and plans to sell them in a certain county.

The iron pots sold by this merchant are not only of superior quality, but also much cheaper than those in the local area.

However, his actions severely damaged the interests of local blacksmiths and merchants.

Therefore, these people would join forces and collude to prevent out-of-town merchants from entering the county to sell iron pots, leveraging their local connections and resources. They would either incite local residents to boycott out-of-town merchants, use various unspoken rules to create numerous obstacles for their business operations, or even resort to personal threats to prevent them from selling their products locally.

This is by no means an isolated case unique to the Ming Dynasty.

For thousands of years, during an era dominated by small-scale farming, similar situations have been prevalent.

It erodes the healthy development of business like a malignant tumor.

Faced with this situation, even if out-of-town merchants choose to appeal to the government, they often find it difficult to get a solution.

Due to various complex considerations, local officials often have no choice but to resort to a compromise and hastily resolve the matter.

Protecting the personal safety of out-of-town businessmen is considered fulfilling one's duty.

Expecting them to protect the commercial interests of out-of-town merchants is often unrealistic.

Over time, merchants from other places no longer dared to, nor were they willing to, set foot in the county to sell iron pots.

As a result, local residents missed out on the opportunity to buy high-quality, low-priced goods.

This situation persists even in certain areas of modern society.

It wasn't until the advent of the internet age, the widespread adoption of online shopping, and the impact of online exposure that it truly began to decline.

However, if the imperial court were to establish a department store, the situation would be entirely different.

The imperial court's companies are naturally not afraid of the difficulties and obstruction from these local protectionist forces!
Although the Daming Department Store was directly under the central government, local officials dared not fail to protect it.

Those people wouldn't be foolish enough to openly oppose the imperial court.

They have neither the courage nor the ability to do so.

They only dare to bully merchants from other places; to bully the imperial court is simply asking for trouble.

Even if they are dissatisfied, they can only swallow their anger.

Daming Department Store also had a significant advantage in terms of commodity procurement and transportation.

Ordinary merchants, when transporting goods, also need to constantly worry about the safety of their goods, guard against robbery by bandits, and deal with various unexpected situations.

Daming Department Store, on the other hand, has nothing to worry about.

With the imperial court backing them up, no one dared to act rashly.

Moreover, the economies of scale created by large-scale transportation can significantly reduce transportation costs, which is something that ordinary businessmen can hardly achieve.

Previously, Zhu Yunwen had not ordered the establishment of the Daming Department Store because he felt that the variety and quantity of goods available for sale were still limited.

The factory's production capacity is insufficient, and the variety and quantity of goods produced are not rich enough to meet the needs of building a large department store with a wide variety of goods.

Relying solely on the sale of a single product is simply insufficient to support a massive sales channel and operational scale.

The operation and management will also be fraught with difficulties, making it hard to achieve the expected benefits.

Nowadays, with the rapid development of industry, all kinds of factories are emerging and production capacity has been greatly improved.

At the same time, overseas trade is gradually unfolding, enriching the sources of goods.

At this point, the time was finally ripe to establish the Daming Department Store.

With Daming Department Store, products manufactured in the factory can be sold directly to ordinary people.

The benefits of industrialization in the Ming Dynasty will reach every citizen.

The process of industrialization will be further accelerated as a result.

Other daily necessities such as firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, and tea would also be included in the purchasing list of Daming Department Store and sold along with it.

The imperial court's control over the economy will be greatly strengthened.

When necessary, the Ming Dynasty court could also use the Ming Department Store to regulate the prices of goods.

As for the buying and selling of goods in ordinary stores, it will become an important supplement.

After all, Daming Department Store can only enter the county-level city at most.

It's impossible to go any further.

Ordinary merchants, on the other hand, could reach every corner of the countryside by carrying their goods on their shoulders and walking through the streets and alleys.

There are always some department stores in the Ming Dynasty that fail to take care of their goods, and ordinary merchants still need to fill the gaps.

On the other hand, with Daming Department Store, the factory can quickly adjust production based on market feedback.

After listening to Zhu Yuntong's detailed explanation, Yao Guangxiao, Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, and Xia Yuanji all had their eyes light up.

Xia Yuanji could not contain his excitement. He slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Your Majesty's idea of ​​opening the Great Ming Department Store is truly brilliant!"

"Once this company is established, it will surely benefit hundreds of millions of people across the country, improve their livelihoods, and bring the imperial court an immeasurable amount of tax revenue."

"Your Majesty, please rest assured that the Ming Bank will provide sufficient loans to support the establishment of the department store, fully supporting this great undertaking that benefits the country and its people!"

Zhu Yunwen's lips curled up slightly, with a hint of reproach in them. He glanced at Xia Yuanji with annoyance and said, "You were just pretending to be broke and penniless in front of me. What, you've suddenly changed your tune and are not short of money now, are you?"

Xia Yuanji's face immediately flushed with embarrassment, as if his little thoughts had been seen through. He gave an awkward laugh, a laugh that was both helpless and cunning.

How could the Daming Bank be short of money?

However, the silver previously lent to the Ministry of Revenue has vanished without a trace, and when it will be returned remains an unknown.

Often, old debts remain unresolved before new ones arise.

Or perhaps it's using new debts to pay off old ones.

In reality, it's just like paying off a lonely debt.

As for the new concept of government bonds, Xia Yuanji really had no idea what to do with them.

He firmly believed that the imperial court would never break its promise to the people who bought national bonds.

However, he always had reservations about Daming Bank underwriting government bonds.

Who knows, in the end, that debt might inexplicably turn into a bad debt that Daming Bank can't recover.

As the head of Daming Bank, he bears the heavy responsibility of maintaining the bank's stable operation. How could he not be careful in using every penny and managing the risks?
However, the situation at Daming Department Store was quite different.

This is clearly a promising and foolproof money-making project.

Loans help them get started, so there's no need to worry about not having enough money to repay the loan in the future.

In Xia Yuanji's eyes, this was an exceptionally high-quality loan customer.

With such a golden opportunity before him, he naturally did not hesitate and immediately expressed his full support!

"Okay!" Yang Rong nodded and continued:

"With this arrangement, there is indeed no need to adopt the old method of government supervision and merchant operation."

“By adopting the operating model of Daming Bank, establishing Daming Department Store, recruiting specialized business talents, and managing it carefully, we will not have to worry about not getting a rich return.”

"This method is far more advantageous than government-supervised, merchant-operated sales of goods."

"In this way, the second problem can be considered to have been successfully solved."

Yang Rong paused slightly, his expression turned serious, and he changed the subject, saying in a deep voice, "Only the third question remains, and that is the Great Ming Treasure Note!"

……

(End of this chapter)