Thinking of this, Zhu Yijun's heart suddenly skipped a beat. He looked outside and asked Chen Ju beside him, "What's the name of that Shanxi salt merchant?
Is he here? "
"Imperial Majesty, it's Li Zhonghang. He's already here!" Chen Ju said quickly.
Zhu Yijun nodded and said with a smile, "Let him in!"
Not long after, Xu Wenchang came in with two people. One was slightly older, and the other was slightly younger. Both of them clearly had the temperament of people from Guanzhong.
They weren't very tall and sturdy, and their faces looked like the color of the soil.
Zhu Yijun glanced at the two people and found that they were both wearing coarse hemp clothes.
Seeing this scene, Zhu Yijun immediately smiled. Were there still merchants in this era who wore coarse hemp clothes?
Seeing the two people kneeling on the ground and kowtowing to him, Zhu Yijun waved his hand expressionlessly and said, "Get up!"
Looking at the young man with his head lowered, Zhu Yijun found that he seemed to be very nervous, and his whole body was trembling.
"Accompany me for a walk!" Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "It's actually very depressing to stay in the palace all day."
The group left the Palace of Heavenly Purity and strolled in the palace. As they walked, Zhu Yijun said to Li Zhonghang, "Li Zhonghang, one of the four major salt merchants in Jin. I've also asked people to investigate the Li family, and there's no crime."
"It's just that the Li family has done a lot of the despicable things that other merchants have done."
As he spoke, Zhu Yijun took out a large silver ingot and said with a smile, "I'll return this to you. You're from the Imperial Palace. Try to play some tricks. Because of this silver ingot, I need to find a new eunuch."
"You know that it's not easy to find suitable eunuchs in the palace. There's no one left after you came."
Li Zhonghang was taken aback. He stretched out his hand to receive the silver ingot and immediately knelt on the ground. "This student deserves to die a thousand deaths. Your Majesty, please forgive me!"
"Student?" Zhu Yijun was stunned. He stopped and looked at Li Zhonghang. "Do you have scholarly honors?"
"Thanks to the Emperor's grace, student Wanli is a second year High Scholar!" Li Zhonghang hurriedly replied.
Nodding his head, Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "Okay, get up!"
After saying that, Zhu Yijun turned around and continued to walk forward. "I just want to tell you that when you work for me, don't play dirty tricks."
"Student understands!" Li Zhongxing broke out in a cold sweat. Just like that, a life was lost.
"Actually, I really want to know what you think."
Zhu Yijun glanced at Li Xi with a smile, and then said, "Don't you Li family believe that businessmen don't stand out when they get rich?
Why do you want to see me now? "
"You should know that businessmen should be cautious and not get too close to the imperial court. This doesn't seem like the style of the Li family."
Li Zhonghang broke out in a cold sweat. It was obvious that the Emperor knew the Li family very well. He even knew everything about them. This made Li Zhonghang feel at a loss.
In fact, Li Zhonghang was afraid. After all, he was facing the ruler of this country.
He was the ruler of this country. As long as he said the word, his head would have to be removed.
"Your Majesty, although I am a businessman, I am well-read. I know that I am a citizen of the Daming and a citizen under Your Majesty's rule. Naturally, I know that I have to share Your Majesty's burden.
Recently, I heard that the imperial court is investigating the salt policy. I am thinking if I can do something for Your Majesty. "
Li Zhonghang bowed his body and didn't dare to raise his head. From the beginning to the end, the pressure that Zhu Yijun gave him was too great.
Zhu Yijun glanced at Li Zhonghang and said with a smile, "Well said. Very good. If all the businessmen in the Daming had the same awareness as you, then no one would say that businessmen have no country.
But aren't you afraid of bringing trouble to your Li family? "
"There is no door to fortune or misfortune. People bring it on themselves. The Qian family of the Hejian Prefecture has been greatly favored by the Emperor, but they still ignore the law and sell salt. To put it bluntly, they are tempted by money."
"No matter what you do, if you can control the greed in your heart, be loyal to the Daming, and be loyal to the Emperor, your family will naturally prosper.
If you can't control the greed in your heart, even if you are far away from the imperial court, you will still bring trouble to yourself. "
"Therefore, I believe that what you do is not important. What is important is how you do it."
Zhu Yijun nodded and said with a smile, "That's right. Originally, I wanted to see you and talk to you about some matters in the northwest. But now, I don't think so. I have an official here. I don't know if you want to do it."
An official?
Li Zhonghang was surprised. Although he was a High Scholar, he had never thought of becoming an official!
"Your Majesty, may I ask what kind of official it is?" Li Zhonghang asked carefully.
"Chief Supervisor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs!"
Zhu Yijun looked at Li Zhonghang and said with a smile, "Rank 3. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is in charge of the Royal Family's business. It hasn't been established yet, but it will be established soon. If you are willing, you can be the Chief Supervisor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs."
Li Zhonghang felt his heart skip a beat. Chief Supervisor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs?
Rank 3?
Although he didn't know what the Ministry of Internal Affairs did, the Chief Supervisor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was a Rank 3 position. This was not a low position!
In the Daming Empire, how many Rank 3 officials were there?
The Assistant Ministers of the six ministries were Rank 3. The Prefectural Commissioner and the Disciplinary Commissioner were Rank 3.
As the saying goes, a vassal state was also half a territory.
Li Zhonghang had stepped into the ranks of Rank 3 officials. Wasn't this a huge leap?
"Your Majesty, I … I'm in a daze!" Li Zhonghang swallowed his saliva and said.
Zhu Yijun looked at Li Zhonghang and said with a smile, "Don't be in a daze. I have been looking for a candidate to be the Chief Supervisor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I think you are quite suitable.
However, I have to warn you first. If you don't do well, don't blame me for being impolite. "
It's over!
Li Zhonghang knew that he couldn't turn down the position of the Chief Supervisor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. At this moment, Li Zhonghang was half happy and half worried.
"I know you're here for the salt, but I'm telling you, don't even think about the salt. Just work hard in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Your Li family didn't say you have to be a merchant. Isn't it good to be an official?"
How could it be bad to be an official? Li Zhonghang was still worried, but Li Xi was anxious.
A Rank 3 official? What did that mean?
It meant that he would be the second generation of an official in the future.
As for business, if his family didn't want to do it, he could just leave it to others. Look at the Zhang family and the Wang family. One was the Cabinet Secretary, and the other was the Governor of three countries.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"
After hesitating for a while, Li Zhonghang knelt on the ground and said respectfully.
Zhu Yijun nodded and said with a smile, "Get up!
I will arrange people to go there as soon as possible. I will also arrange a yamen for you as soon as possible. By the way, the palace will send a eunuch to guard the Ministry of Internal Affairs. "
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!" Li Zhonghang quickly agreed.
Zhu Yijun nodded and said in a deep voice, "Alright, I'm tired. Let Chen Ju send you out of the palace!"
After returning to the Palace of Heavenly Purity, Zhu Yijun asked someone to find a set of clothes. When Chen Ju came back, Zhu Yijun had already changed.
At this moment, Zhu Yijun was dressed like a son of a rich family. He looked very rich.
Chen Ju was stunned. Was the Emperor going out of the palace?
This wasn't appropriate, right?
"Change into your clothes. The bodyguards are already ready."
Zhu Yijun looked at Chen Ju and threw a set of clothes to Chen Ju. He said with a smile, "From your appearance, I don't think I'm going out to play."
"This time, I'm going to the Imperial Plantation. It's not convenient for me to go out in public. This time, I'll bring you to broaden your horizons."
When Chen Ju heard that Zhu Yijun was going to the Imperial Plantation, he let out a sigh of relief and ran to change his clothes.
Soon, a carriage left the palace. There were more than a hundred bodyguards around the carriage. The group of people rushed to the Imperial Plantation in a grandiose manner.
Nothing happened along the way. Everyone avoided the group when they saw them.
Zhu Yijun could only lift the curtain of the carriage and look outside. He didn't think about going out for a walk. It wasn't his style to court death.
The group of people quickly arrived at the Imperial Plantation. After verifying his waist tag, Zhu Yijun got out of the carriage. After passing through a few doors, the scene in front of him suddenly brightened up.
There was a large field. Many people were playing, and it looked very lively.
As if he knew that Zhu Yijun had arrived, a man in his thirties quickly ran to Zhu Yijun's side. Just as he was about to kneel, Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said with a smile, "That's enough. Don't kneel. Get up!"
After sizing up the man, Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "You look pretty good."
"Thanks to Your Majesty's great fortune, I eat well and sleep well here. I'm also used to living here."
The man looked at Zhu Yijun, bowed, and said, "Although I know that Your Majesty doesn't like to hear this, it's really unwise for Your Majesty to be so generous. If there's any danger, I won't be able to atone for it even if I die a hundred times."
Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said with a smile, "I know what you're thinking. Show me around!"
This place had been established very long ago. It was a talent training base for Zhu Yijun. They were all orphans that he had collected from all over the world.
They were trained from a young age, from reading and writing to learning arithmetic and other knowledge.
The only person that Zhu Yijun had sent here was Xu Guangqi. In the blink of an eye, eight or nine years had passed.
The man in front of Zhu Yijun was called Yang Cheng. He was the grandson of the late Minister of Internal Appointments, Yang Bo. He was also from the first batch of civil officials in Zhu Yijun's academy.
Ever since the academy had completely become a school for the children of Honours, Yang Cheng had been arranged to come here.
The remaining two children of civil officials and Lu Shenxing, the grandson of Lu Diaoyang, were also here. They were now in charge of this place.
Of the three children of civil officials, one was Zhang Jingxiu, the son of Zhang Juzheng. However, he was currently observing mourning at home and couldn't leave.
Zhu Yijun had already planned to arrange for him to come here in the future after he finished observing mourning.
Zhu Yijun looked at Yang Cheng and asked with a smile, "I sent someone a few days ago. I need two groups of people. Have you prepared them for me?"