"Being a vassal state is a custom of our ancestors. How can I not want to be a vassal state?"
Zhu Yi said with a smile, "I also want to go there and do something to be praised as a virtuous king!"
Zhu Yijun glanced at Zhu Yi.
He could obviously feel Zhu Yi's dishonesty.
Zhu Yi's words were not honest.
However, Zhu Yijun also understood. He nodded with a smile and said, "Get ready first!" Then, Zhu Yijun glanced at Zhu Yi and said, "Your mother has put in a lot of effort.
"Your Empress Mother has put in a lot of effort for you. Don't let Empress Mother worry."
"Understood!" Zhu Yi said.
Zhu Yi agreed and said respectfully.
Zhu Yijun didn't talk to Zhu Yi anymore.
Instead, he stood up and prepared to go back.
In fact, there was a problem in the Daming that couldn't be avoided. That was the vassal kings of the Daming. This was a problem that must be solved.
There were many members of the Daming royal family in the world. They were like a group of worms crawling on the Daming to suck the blood.
It was impossible to exile or kill them all. Finding a way out for them was the most important thing.
Zhu Yijun had always felt that the Daming was a bit too guarded against the royal family, but it was understandable. After all, the Daming had Jing Nan.
If it weren't for Jing Nan, it was uncertain whether there would still be a branch.
In fact, the Daming's vassal king strategy was also useful. After King Ning's rebellion, no other vassal kings had rebelled in the Daming.
Could it be done through Zhu Yi?
What about the reform of the Daming royal family?
This was a problem!
Returning to the Palace of Heavenly Purity, Zhu Yijun sighed. Zhang Siwei was gone. He could start his salt business.
After looking through the memorials, Zhu Yijun didn't find anything important. He looked back at Zhang Jing and said, "Go and find Cao Yikui for me!"
In fact, Zhu Yijun had been thinking about what he should do about the salt business.
After thinking for a long time, Zhu Yijun felt that a public-private partnership might be a good idea.
However, he subcontracted out the salt works and let the merchants buy the salt works.
However, the Imperial Court had to invest in every salt mine.
Every year, 70% of the profits would go to the imperial court, and 30% to the merchants.
There were many salt areas in Daming, such as the Lianghuai salt area, the Liangzhe salt area, the Shandong salt area and so on. The output of each salt area was different.
By selling the salt pans to the merchants, there would be no concealment or illegal salt trafficking.
Anyway, no matter how much you produce, you can take it out and sell it. It's all your legal income.
From this perspective, the production of salt would definitely be greatly increased, unlike now, where the officials would be transferred away after a short period of time.
It was clear that there was more salt to be dried, and it was faster, but it was very tiring to push it forward.
The kitchen farmers along the coast were being squeezed dry, living a life worse than death. These were all problems that had to be solved.
If a soldier was the slave of an officer, then a kitchen worker was no better.
Perhaps this problem could be solved through a public-private partnership.
The merchants would naturally take care of the transportation and sales. There was no need for the imperial court to worry about it.
If the imperial court needed salt, they could buy it from the salt merchants, and the salt merchants would be responsible for the transportation.
As for the salt merchants raising the price of salt and going against the imperial court, Zhu Yijun did not believe that any salt merchant would have the guts to do so.
The current situation with the salt merchants was very chaotic, and it was not easy to investigate. There were too many twists and turns involved.
If he sold the salt pans to the salt merchants, it would be easier to investigate. He could just look for whoever caused trouble.
By selling the salt pans, he would be able to earn a large sum of money in a short period of time. This large sum of money would be the support for his initial reforms.
However, before doing this, he still had to give them a warning!
When Cao Yikui arrived, his face was still expressionless. Could this be the legendary coffin face?
Glancing at Cao Yikui, Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "You look very good. It seems that you have rested well these past few days.
Now, it's time to get to work. I wonder if you're ready, my dear subject? "
Cao Yikui said with a straight face, "Your Majesty, please instruct me!"
"As the saying goes, with a hundred thousand strings of coins around your waist, ride a crane down to Yangzhou!" Zhu Yijun looked at Cao Yikui and said with a smile, "This time, you go down to Yangzhou!
Go investigate the transport envoy in Yangzhou. When you get there, there will be people who will cooperate with you. "
Yangzhou was an important location for the salt merchants. It was the base of the Daming's salt policy. Basically, all the salt merchants were concentrated in Yangzhou.
"We will have the young duke of the Duke of Wei go back with you!"
Who was the biggest local tyrant in Jiangnan?
Of course it was the Duke of Wei. His imperial edict might not even be as effective as a word from the Duke of Wei when he reached Jiangnan.
The military governor's office had been entrenched in Nanjing for hundreds of years. It could be said that they had tentacles all over Jiangnan.
The Duke of Wei's young duke, Xu Weizhi, was currently at the martial lecture hall. Sending him over would be of great help.
At the same time, this represented his attitude. The Duke of Wei was not stupid. Naturally, they would not stand against him.
Zhu Yijun did not believe that the Duke of Wei had no involvement with the salt merchants. However, he had expressed his intentions, and the Duke of Wei knew what to do.
With their support, Cao Yikui's matters would be much smoother.
If there was no other way, or if there was a mess, he could directly punish the Duke of Wei.
"Your subject understands!"
Cao Yikui bowed. He would not be stupid enough to refuse the help of the Duke of Wei. It was a great help!
One had to know that Yangzhou was not Hejian Prefecture. He did not know if he was a powerful dragon there, but those salt merchants were definitely local tyrants.
In addition, there was the help of the government. With the collusion of officials and merchants, the net of Yangzhou was not so easy to break.
"We will not send anyone from the Imperial Bodyguard, but we will have Zhang Jing follow you to Dongchang."
In fact, Zhu Yijun had no choice but to send Zhang Jing out of the capital. There were many eunuchs in Yangzhou and Nanjing.
These guarding eunuchs were used to being local tyrants. Sending Wang Zhong would not be able to suppress them.
Only the old eunuch, Zhang Jing, had a high status, great power, and a great reputation.
In addition, he was ruthless and clever. With him there, many things would be easy to do.
This time, he wanted to break the net of Yangzhou salt merchants and completely pave the way for his salt policy reform.
Zhu Yijun was very clear that if he did not beat these salt merchants into submission, he would not be able to do anything.
If he wanted to use them, he would have to fight them first. Only after fighting them would they obediently listen to him.
Hearing that Zhang Jing wanted to go with him, Cao Yikui raised his eyebrows. This time in Hejian Prefecture, Cao Yikui had seen Zhang Jing's methods.
Wang Zhong's methods were definitely not something that Wang Zhong could compare to. Not only were his methods shrewd, but they were also very sinister!
He was simply a person who did not care about the methods to achieve his goals.
Although Cao Yikui had some conflict in his heart, he also knew that even if he objected, it would be useless. The emperor would definitely let Zhang Jing go.
In addition, he also knew that if Zhang Jing went, it would be very beneficial for him.
At least he did not need to play the bad guy, he could play the good guy. He reckoned that if the news of Zhang Jing going to Yangzhou was spread, many people would be scared silly.
Seeing that Cao Yikui did not say anything, Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "Then you go as soon as possible!"
"This official obeys!" Cao Yikui said once again, then bowed and left.
Cao Yikui and Zhang Jing investigating the case in Yangzhou would definitely cause a bloody storm. However, this was not what Zhu Yijun was thinking about. He was thinking about the reconstruction after this.
The salt policy could not be messed up. Everything had to be carried out under the condition of maintaining stability.
In fact, there were too few rich merchants in the Daming period. This was why there were so many salt merchants. When his reforms were carried out, many people would find out that salt merchants actually earned their hard-earned money.
"It seems like the Ministry of Internal Affairs's goal has to be changed!"
Li Zhonghang was researching the loom, but the time was too short and the progress was slow. Zhu Yijun felt that he should be sent to Yangzhou.
Li Zhonghang was the most suitable person to clean up the mess in Yangzhou.
Li Zhonghang was a Jin merchant and a salt merchant. If he appeared, many salt merchants would believe him.
In this industry, Li Zhonghang also had a lot of connections. It would not make people feel that the imperial court was trying to take advantage of him.
If people felt that the imperial court was trying to take advantage of him, then no one would dare to buy his salt pans.
Kill one batch and pull another batch. This was the way of the king. Cao Yikui and Zhang Jing would kill one batch and Li Zhonghang would pull another batch.
As for the batch that was pulled over, it was impossible to let Li Zhonghang manage it. When the time comes, he just needed to arrange for a new official to take charge of the salt department.
In Zhu Yijun's mind, the most suitable candidate was Cao Yikui. It was just that Cao Yikui was not suitable in the early stages.
After thinking through this matter, Zhu Yijun felt that it was time to call Li Zhonghang to the palace and give him some instructions.
As for whether Li Zhonghang could do this well, Zhu Yijun was not worried at all. With Li Zhonghang's ability and foresight, this matter would not be difficult for him.
He reckoned that Li Zhonghang would be able to gain a lot of benefits from this. For example, he might be able to promote some merchants that he had a good relationship with.
Zhu Yijun was not worried about this kind of thing. This kind of thing was unavoidable at any time. As long as he did not cause a ruckus and did his job well, there was nothing unacceptable about it.
Just as Zhu Yijun was preparing to start the salt administration, a group of people arrived at the capital's gates.
This was a group of soldiers with a baleful aura. From their equipment and appearance, one could tell that they were from the border army. Especially the horses that they were riding on. It was obvious that these horses were warhorses. These kinds of horses were rare in the capital.
Among the crowd, a general in his fifties sat upright on a horse. His red tassel shook along with the rise and fall of the warhorse.
On his rosy face was a pair of bright and piercing eyes. This person was none other than the commander-in-chief of Ji Liao, Qi Jiguang.
Looking at the capital's gates, Qi Jiguang heaved a sigh of relief. After the imperial edict arrived in Ji Province, he made arrangements there and rushed to the capital.
This time, Qi Jiguang did not object to being transferred from Ji Liao to the capital camp.
In fact, Qi Jiguang was very curious about this new emperor. Ever since he took over the government last year, this new emperor had shown an unprecedented good impression of the army.
When Zhang Juzheng died, Qi Jiguang was worried for a period of time. Now, he was not worried at all.