Da Ming: Father, step aside, I'll be the prime minister!

Chapter 167 This advantage is mine!

Fan Yongdou bowed respectfully and said in a loud voice.

"Your Highness, please forgive me! Since ancient times, emperors have placed the greatest importance on the balance of power when governing their subjects."

The Wanli Xinbao newspaper now holds a monopoly, and although the inner court has a stake in it, it is in fact completely under Zhang Shiyuan's control.

"Your Majesty is wise and powerful; how can one not harbor suspicion?"

"Be bold!"

Zhu Yiliu's eyes flashed with surprise, and he immediately slammed his hand on the table and stood up.

"How dare you, a mere merchant, presume to know the emperor's heart? Aren't you afraid of being skinned alive and stuffed with straw?"

"May I die a thousand deaths!"

Fan Yongdou prostrated himself on the ground, tears streaming down his face.

"However, looking at the capital city right now, everyone is living in fear. All the civil and military officials are silent, and the common people are obedient. They are all terrified of the Zhang family father and son and no one dares to say a bad word for fear of bringing disaster upon themselves!"
Even worse, the common people only knew of the kindness of the Zhang family father and son, but were unaware of the emperor's majesty!
This humble subject risks his life to earnestly request Your Highness to offer this advice, so as to ensure the eternal prosperity of the Ming Dynasty!

Fan Yongdou spoke with righteous indignation and stern words, his speech clearly meticulously crafted and delivered with great passion.

It was as if he, this merchant, was also a loyal and devoted citizen of the Ming Dynasty.

To others, these words might not have been very persuasive, but to a child like Prince Lu, they resonated deeply with him!
Zhu Yiliu suddenly recalled his conversation with Empress Dowager Li that day. His mother's words contained a hidden meaning, seemingly tacitly approving his punishment of Zhang Shiyuan.

Thinking of this, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes.

"That's exactly right! Zhang Shiyuan acts eccentrically and oversteps his bounds. If no one curbs his arrogance, he will truly not know the immensity of heaven and earth!"

He gritted his teeth, his fists clenched tightly in his sleeves.

"I will tear off his mask and let my brother see his true colors!"

Young people are prone to jealousy.

Especially someone like Prince Lu, who was exceptionally noble from childhood and was pampered from a young age.

Seeing Zhang Yunxiu's unparalleled popularity in the capital, a group of纨绔子弟 (sons of wealthy families) vied to take him as their role model, and some even called him "Master"!
Being the same age as his opponent, Zhu Yiliu, being a teenager himself, became even more resentful.

Upon seeing this, Fan Yongdou hurriedly cupped his hands in praise: "Your Highness Prince Lu is young and spirited. Speaking of Zhang Shiyuan, he is arrogant and domineering and should have been disciplined long ago. If Your Highness were to take action, he would surely be able to curb his arrogance!"

These words clearly pleased Zhu Yiliu greatly. He stroked his chin, but humbly declined.

"You flatter me. I still need to hone my skills. Even if Zhang Shiyuan has rebellious intentions, I doubt he would dare to openly rebel."

Despite saying that, he couldn't hide the smug look in his eyes.

After a moment's hesitation, his expression turned serious.

"How can the power to educate all people be monopolized by Zhang Shiyuan alone? If this continues, it will inevitably lead to disaster."

I will find an opportunity to speak with the Empress Dowager and His Majesty about this matter, and I believe that granting you permission to continue publishing the "Kyoto Daily" again would not be too difficult!

Upon receiving these words, Fan Yongdou was overjoyed and immediately knelt down to pay his respects.

"Your Highness is wise! This is a blessing for the nation!"

"but--"

Zhu Yiliu abruptly changed the subject, narrowing his eyes as he scrutinized the merchant.

“Even Zhang Shiyuan did not have sole control over the newspaper, so your Jingji Daily must follow suit.”

"Your Highness, rest assured! This humble subject will certainly abide by his duty and would never dare to overstep his bounds in the slightest!"

Fan Yongdou had already planned ahead, and answered decisively. He then took out the gift list from his sleeve and presented it respectfully.

"Speaking of which, I have another small gift to offer to the Empress Dowager on my behalf, Your Highness."

Shanxi Merchants Guild Hall.

Today, more than a dozen core members gathered in the lobby of the club.

Some people were standing, some were sitting, and most of them looked extremely anxious.

Only Li Mingxing, sitting upright in the hall, was leaning on his cane, resting with his eyes closed.

Wang Dengku sat upright to one side, his face expressionless, but inwardly he was extremely anxious.

He previously mentioned information about the Xishan Railway and mining sites, but was later persuaded by Li Mingxing's feng shui theories.

Even though it was recorded in ancient books, Wang Dengku still had no idea what to do.

After all, in their previous clash with Zhang Yunxiu, the Shanxi merchants had almost lost everything.

this time
Wang Dengku glanced at the screen directly opposite the main hall, but there was no sign of anyone coming from behind it. He couldn't help but speak to Li Mingxing.

"Old Li, is Manager Fan a good candidate?"

Li Mingxing's eyelids drooped, making him look like a Shar Pei.

He slowly opened his eyes, as if it took a lot of effort, then revealed a set of yellow teeth and let out a dry laugh.

“You young man, you were so impatient last time, but seeing that you have some skills, I’ll tell you something.”

He paused, looking completely confident.

"There's no reason why Fan Yongdou should fail on his trip to the Prince of Lu's residence!"

Wang Dengku frowned deeply: "How could Elder Li be able to do this?"

Just as he was about to ask some questions, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the hall, and even Wang Dengku couldn't help but get up to investigate.

But then a loud laugh was heard.

"I'm back! Please rest assured, everyone! I'm back!"

He bowed to the merchants as he walked, and then sat down in the middle with an air of authority, drinking the tea on the table in one gulp.

Li Mingxing smiled, but still asked a question.

"how?"

With a beaming expression, Fan Yongdou finally gave a definite answer, saying, "I will not disappoint you, sir!"

He deliberately spoke loudly, and for a moment all the merchants in the hall showed joy on their faces, as if it were New Year's Day.

"As expected of Manager Fan!"

"I knew then that with Manager Fan in charge, not to mention a prince, even the emperor would be a piece of cake."

"With the support of the Prince of Lu, we Shanxi merchants will have another powerful backer!"

Unlike the early Ming Dynasty, when there was still the caution and prudence of the Jiajing era, by the Wanli era, merchants and gentry alike were speaking more and more recklessly.

It became commonplace for many people to make fun of the emperor in private.

After drinking the tea, Fan Yongdou felt refreshed. He leaned forward towards Li Mingxing and spoke in a low voice.

"Old Master Li is indeed a man of extraordinary wisdom! That Prince Lu is just as you said, merely a child's temperament, agreeing with you in a few words." Li Mingxing spoke with an air of self-righteousness, sneering, "That Prince Lu is nothing but a child, what kind of cunning could a fourteen-year-old have? If all children in the world were like Zhang Shiyuan, such a treacherous and wicked young man, it would be a veritable demon star descended to earth!"

Wang Dengku stroked his beard with delight and couldn't help but sigh.

"As the saying goes, there's always a way out. Our family is large and powerful, and we can afford to wear down Zhang Shiyuan. With the help of Prince Lu, opening this 'Jingji Daily' is like driving a steel nail into Zhang Shiyuan's heart, leaving him nowhere to hide!"

"As I have said before, this is not a crisis, but a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

Li Mingxing said leisurely.

Wang Dengku, however, had some doubts: "Old sir, the Prince of Lu has indeed agreed, but what about the Emperor? His friendship with Zhang Shiyuan might not be so easy, right?"

"Confused!"

Li Mingxing remarked, "This is a lesson I learned."

"One Prince Lu is enough. Just watch, the emperor will definitely agree. The benefits we offer are much greater than those of that brat Zhang Shiyuan."

You may think that the emperor and Zhang Shiyuan are on good terms, but throughout history, few emperors have been people who valued personal relationships.

An emperor is, after all, an emperor, the ruler of all under heaven. Dragons have scales that cannot be touched, and this power over the world is those scales!

The late Emperor Jiajing was known for his impartiality in court, and the current emperor, wishing to emulate his grandfather, is naturally well-versed in this principle as well.

"Hey~"

Li Mingxing chuckled and said.

"As long as it's an emperor, there's no way he could disagree with this newspaper; that's the art of imperial rule!"

Upon hearing these words, Wang Dengku's last remaining doubts vanished, and he couldn't help but speak with excitement.

"Zhang Shiyuan has made a lot of money with this 'Wanli Xinbao' newspaper. Since the publication of his newspaper, the court has reduced its control over tabloids. This has great potential!"

Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. Zhang Shiyuan's vigorous promotion of the Wanli Xinbao inevitably led to the proliferation of other newspapers.

"It is only right and proper."

Surprisingly, Li Mingxing also showed a slight smile today. He stroked his beard and looked at Wang Dengku.

"Manager Fan has made all the arrangements, but you, Wang Dengku, can't afford to mess things up!"

"Old Li, you'd better watch this carefully!"

Wang Dengku looked energetic and spirited.

"We have already prepared hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, and we are determined to take over all the lotus root coal from Xishan!"

When it comes to court intrigue and understanding people's hearts, Li Mingxing and Fan Yongdou are undoubtedly the best; however, when it comes to business acumen, Wang Dengku is the undisputed expert.

He lowered his voice and said.

"Zhang Shiyuan is trying to cut off our source of income by selling off coal at a low price, and then swallow up the entire coal industry in the capital."
In my humble opinion, it's not about playing along; we should just take whatever amount of coal he can produce!

"The coal is all in our hands, so we can control the price at will!"

Shanxi merchants were very adept at these business tricks.

Even Fan Yongdou said, "That briquettes burn much longer than the best coal, yet Zhang Shiyuan, that spendthrift, sold them for a mere twenty coins!"
Once he's spent all the silver from the Xishan workshop, and the mine is leaking and can no longer continue operating, let's see if he still has a million taels of silver to deal with us.

"Even if it's a million taels of silver! We'll fight to the bitter end."

Li Mingxing tapped the floor with his cane, his gaze growing increasingly profound.

"It is better to be prepared than not. These high-quality briquettes are easy to sell, and even if they are sold to areas outside the Great Wall, they can still earn a large sum of money."

We have no reason to lose this battle!

Ruijin Silk Shop.

Textile workshop.

The creaking sound was incessant.

A simple temporary wooden shed was erected in the small courtyard.

Thirty or forty female workers sat upright in front of their looms, the wooden frames emitting a series of deep, rumbling sounds like those of an old ox as the machines turned.

As the shuttle shuttles back and forth, the interlacing of the latitude lines often produces a crisp sound.

The female workers skillfully cranked the handles on the machines, controlling the spinning of the yarn, and a faint smell of cotton filled the air.

Zhang Yunxiu, wearing a mask, walked and looked around, clearly satisfied with the machine.

Zhao Rui, the manager of Ruijin Silk Shop, followed closely behind with his obese body. He was already covered in sweat after only a few steps and had to wipe it with his sleeve before introducing the shop to Zhang Yunxiu.

"My lord, I have never neglected the blueprints you gave me before. However, please forgive my dullness. In the past month or so, I have only managed to create a rough prototype. If I want to reproduce the wonders of your blueprints, I am afraid it will take some more time."

Zhang Yunxiu carefully examined an empty textile machine and couldn't help but say something.

"How much can this textile machine increase work efficiency?"

Zhao Rui thought for a moment and then replied.

"In response to your question, sir, the skilled female spinners recruited in Beizhili could only spin one or two pounds of yarn per day."

They still can't recruit enough people; it's a case of high demand but low supply.

Now that we have this textile machine, ordinary female workers can learn to spin more than ten kilograms a day after a few days of training.

The money saved and the extra profits from this round trip are simply countless!

Zhao Rui became somewhat excited as he spoke.

He was an honest man, and he started with newspapers and now works on textile machines.

They're just stubborn and believe that following this adult in front of them is definitely the right thing to do.

Zhao Rui gave a simple and honest smile: "Thanks to the good fortune of the Assistant Magistrate, I think the textile machine should be able to be improved and put into production in another half month."

As a merchant, he knew all too well the significance of this product, which was no less important than briquettes! In fact, it was even more significant, and it would also provide livelihoods for many more female workers!
"I'm not busy."

Zhang Yunxiu touched the slightly rough but already well-practiced spinning machine, clearly having other plans, and asked.

"Which craftsman made this spinning machine?"

Speaking of which, the craftsmen under Zhao Rui are really amazing. From protective masks to textile machines, almost everything was developed by him.

Zhao Rui was taken aback for a moment, then answered truthfully.

"Your Excellency, I have searched the capital and surrounding areas, as well as various parts of Beizhili, and have interviewed dozens of renowned craftsmen."

Zhang Yunxiu, however, seemed too lazy to waste words. He narrowed his eyes and said...

"Bring that craftsman here. I have something even more important to tell you!"

Zhang Yunxiu had long planned to solve the water seepage crisis in the Xishan mine, but this technology definitely required finding a reliable and highly skilled craftsman!

(End of this chapter)