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

Chapter 229 Did I lose my treasure bowl?
"Zhang Shiyuan, how dare you!"

Zhang Cheng, the eunuch from the Directorate of Palace Attendants standing beside the emperor, was the first to step forward and reprimand him.

"The boiler in Liulichang exploded. How dare you conceal such a huge incident?"

Zhang Yunxiu frowned and looked up at the man. It was one thing for the emperor to come and question him, but now a dead eunuch dared to act so arrogantly.

He was no longer the cautious young master he once was. He glanced at Zhang Cheng and said without any mercy.

"roll!"

Zhang Cheng suffered repeated setbacks at the hands of his opponent and was thinking of using his power to intimidate them, but unexpectedly, he ran into a tough nut to crack.

He was furious, stomping his feet repeatedly.

"Zhang Shiyuan! How dare you be so lawless in front of His Majesty? Do you still have His Majesty in your eyes? Do you still have any sense of propriety between ruler and subject?"
This is absolutely heinous!

Zhang Cheng roared excitedly, but found that the other party ignored him completely. Furious, he knelt down before the Wanli Emperor beside him and cried bitterly.

"Your Majesty, look at how arrogant Zhang Shiyuan has become! Your Majesty, you must do me justice!"

Hearing Zhang Cheng howling in his ear, Emperor Wanli became increasingly irritated and kicked him away, saying, "Get lost!"

Zhang Cheng then stopped making noise and slunk away.

Emperor Wanli glanced at Zhang Yunxiu, then at the eunuchs following behind him. He calmed down a bit and gave instructions to the eunuchs.

"Go down."

"According to the order."

Soon, only the two of them remained in the study of the commander, which was clearly due to their tacit understanding during their conversation.

The Wanli Emperor sat down in his chair and said in an annoyed tone.

"Shiyuan, what kind of trouble are you causing now? How could the Xishan Glass Workshop suddenly explode? That's worth millions every month!"

He then said, "That concerns the court's future plans. How can we allow either the telescope or the telescope to go wrong so easily?"

Zhang Yunxiu was speechless. The emperor wanted to pretend to care about national affairs, but it turned out he was only interested in money.
He smiled and explained.

"Your Majesty, the incident at the glass workshop today was all for the sake of making more money!"

"You can make money even if something goes wrong in the workshop?" Emperor Wanli was clearly not quite sure.

"Your Majesty doesn't know something."

Zhang Yunxiu then briefly explained to Emperor Wanli the matter of lowering the price of glass and the means of regulating market prices by taking advantage of the "boiler explosion at the glass workshop".

Upon hearing this, Emperor Wanli's small eyes immediately lit up, and he said with considerable excitement.

"So, my glass workshop wasn't blown up? This is just a delaying tactic?"

"To be precise, it should fall under the category of economics." Zhang Yunxiu would occasionally promote his economic theories.

But the Wanli Emperor seemed to be quite knowledgeable about it.

"It sounds like the 'supply and demand relationship' and 'price regulation' in economics?"
Is the goal to profit by leveraging "black swan" events to boost market confidence in glass prices?

He emphasized the words "earn money".

Zhang Yunxiu was taken aback for a moment, and asked with some disbelief, "Your Majesty also understands economics?"

"Hey~"

The Wanli Emperor chuckled and said.

"Zhang Shiyuan, don't look down on me. This mere economics is just the way of making money through trade. I can understand it after just a few glances!"

Even though he was afraid Zhang Yunxiu wouldn't believe him, Emperor Wanli put his fat hands in his pockets and analyzed the situation with a smug look on his face.

"What's so difficult about that? Just like the strategy you mentioned, it's nothing more than breaking the existing supply and demand relationship."

During this period, too many glass products appeared on the market, causing market prices to continue to decline.

If you want prices to rise, you simply need to increase demand and reduce production.

Nowadays, it's difficult to increase demand so that gentry and wealthy merchants will continue to buy glass; it's better to reduce production.

Production can be reduced, but not too deliberately, otherwise people will suspect that it's price manipulation!

When silver was mentioned, the Wanli Emperor seemed to glow, and he continued to shake his head as he spoke.

"The 'boiler explosion at Xishan Liulichang' is a 'black swan' event in economics."

As he listened, Zhang Yunxiu was somewhat surprised.

The Wanli Emperor, who was usually ignorant and incompetent, suddenly started talking eloquently today, and even spoke with great insight.

In a daze, it seemed that the person sitting in front of him was not the Wanli Emperor, but a stock market investor from later generations who was obsessed with studying economics.

"But..." Emperor Wanli frowned, his plump brows furrowing. "There's still one thing I don't understand. Why does everyone seem to agree with this black swan event? I noticed that the Duke of Yingguo, the Duke of Chengguo, and others are overjoyed. This..."

"Is Your Majesty implying it's too fake?" "Isn't it?"

Zhang Yunxiu smiled and shook his head, saying, "Whether this black swan event is real or not is not important. What's important is that everyone needs it to happen."

Whether it was the gentry and wealthy merchants who were trapped or the nobles and ministers who lost money, they all needed this event to drive up the price of glass.

Does Your Majesty understand the principle that all the world's hustle and bustle is driven by self-interest?

Emperor Wanli opened his eyes and said, "Is that the sentence from the 'Biographies of Merchants'?"

He thought for a moment and then continued to ask questions.

"I have another question. Could we earn more money this way?"

Sensing Zhang Yunxiu's rather disdainful gaze, Emperor Wanli appeared slightly embarrassed and coughed twice before speaking.

"Ahem~ I am not doing this for my own selfish reasons, but for the greater good of the nation. Currently, various regions are suffering from famine year after year, and the Jiangnan region is even more beset by floods."

As the emperor, I should naturally be more careful and save some money.

Seeing that Emperor Wanli was becoming more and more like a tyrant, Zhang Yunxiu felt very gratified!

He nodded in response.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured. Once the news of the 'boiler explosion' spreads, we will take control of the Xishan glass production. When the outside world hears the news, the price of glass will surely rise."

Our Great Ming Dynasty is vast and rich in resources. As time goes by, merchants will surely bring glass to all parts of the country.

At that time, both the capital and Southern Zhili will experience a shortage of glass in some respects!

Zhang Yunxiu narrowed his eyes and said, "If Your Majesty wants to make money, isn't that a piece of cake?"

"Good good!"

Emperor Wanli slammed his hand on the table in excitement, his eyes shining, and said with great pleasure.

"Shiyuan, you truly are my trusted minister. As long as you can earn money, I will grant you all the freedom to do whatever you want. But if anyone impeaches you again, I will not let them off lightly!"

After thinking for a moment, he still felt it wasn't enough, and looked at Zhang Yunxiu with a meaningful expression.

"Shiyuan, do you want a wife? How about I betroth my sister to you in the future?"

Zhang Yunxiu was stunned for a moment.

Why does the emperor always want to be his own brother-in-law?
He said, rather speechless.

"Your Majesty, are you still so short of money?"

The businesses, including Renmin Medical Clinic, Xishan Coal Mine, Xishan Glass Workshop, and Xishan Auction House, brought the emperor at least one million taels of silver in revenue.

So, Emperor Wanli was still short of money?
Emperor Wanli, somewhat embarrassed, patted his large belly and said, "Better safe than sorry~ better safe than sorry~"

After thinking for a moment, he widened his eyes and emphasized again.

"I wasn't joking with you. Do you want a wife or not?"

One day later, outside the Xishan Theater.

For the first time in the history of the Ming Dynasty, a press conference was held.

Today, all the prominent officials and dignitaries in the capital who had some dealings with Xishan gathered in the theater.

"What is this press conference? It's quite novel!"

"Have you heard? The Xishan Glass Workshop has been blown up!"

"Could this be true? Or is it just a ruse by Zhang Shiyuan?"

"What good would Zhang Shiyuan's self-inflicted injury ruse do? In my opinion, it's just a disaster. I heard that His Majesty came to Xishan in a huff a few days ago, looking for Zhang Shiyuan to demand an explanation!"

"While you're all preoccupied with the boiler explosion in that workshop, I've heard that some new product is being launched today. It's truly something to look forward to!"

"The boilers exploded and they're still making new products?"

The area below the theater was packed with people, many of whom gathered together and discussed the matter.

As the first public press conference of the Ming Dynasty, it was naturally going to be a grand affair.

Unfortunately, there are not many journalists nowadays; it's just a silent competition between the Wanli Xinbao and the Jingji Daily.

Not long after, Yu Xiangdou, dressed in a blue cross-collar right-fastening jacket, walked out from the high platform with a sorrowful expression.

As one of the speakers at today's press conference, he was already in tears even before he stood on the podium.

Once he stood on the platform, he addressed the large group of gentry and wealthy merchants below in a rather sorrowful tone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our Xishan Auction House is in dire straits!"

(End of this chapter)