Following Zhu Yijun's arrangements, many things quickly went on the right track.
Daming also began a new journey. According to Zhu Yijun's ideas, it walked a new path.
In the following month, the construction of the egg hatchery was completed and production began.
In the streets and alleys of the Shun Tian Prefecture, a new profession appeared, and that was egg collectors.
These people either rode a donkey or carried a load as they went from village to village to collect eggs.
Whether it was chicken eggs, duck eggs, or goose eggs, they were all welcomed.
These people became the first batch of dealers in the countryside of the Shun Tian Prefecture. They collected eggs and sold them to the egg hatchery of the imperial court.
The commoners in the countryside also benefited from this. After all, their prices were very high.
This caused the price of all kinds of eggs in the Shun Tian Prefecture to skyrocket.
The price of eggs increased, and so did the price of chickens, ducks, and geese. Zhu Yijun even received many memorials to the throne because of this.
However, Zhu Yijun didn't mind it too much. The price of poultry definitely wouldn't be temporary.
Once roasted chicken and duck were introduced, it would definitely rise again.
The cement road from the capital to Beitongzhou also entered the planning stage. A new profession appeared in Daming, recruitment.
These people carried a gong every day and went from village to village to recruit workers.
Food and lodging were provided, and two strings of coins were basically the slogan of these people.
If commoners wanted to be rich, they should farm less and build more roads. If children wanted to live a good life, building roads was really good.
In any case, after repeated propaganda, as long as one was from a good family in Daming, they could participate.
After registration, they could receive a month's salary in advance as a settlement allowance.
Although many commoners avoided it, was the money of the imperial court so easy to earn?
However, there were also commoners who were willing to try. Most of them were commoners who couldn't live anymore, or tenant farmers who led miserable lives.
After these people were taken away by the recruitment workers, they were directly sent to the construction team of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Through one, the recruited workers could receive a hundred copper coins. It was simply too easy to earn.
After knowing that the people who went had received two strings of coins in advance, the Shun Tian Prefecture immediately boiled over.
Countless commoners flocked over. Everyone now felt that the imperial court was stupid and rich.
Zhu Yijun only smiled faintly at this statement. There would naturally be people who would speak up for him.
Sure enough, it didn't take long for a new explanation to come out. This was because the emperor sympathized with the common people. In order for the common people to earn money, he didn't hesitate to take out his own funds to subsidize everyone.
As a result, Zhu Yijun's reputation rose by quite a bit, and the people of Shun Tian Prefecture became more loyal to him.
In this day and age, buying people's hearts was the Emperor's specialty. Zhu Yijun naturally attached great importance to this.
The first batch of recruited workers were quickly thrown into the construction of the western suburbs. People were needed to build roads, build houses, and even burn bricks for transportation. The area had become a huge construction site.
Zhu Yijun had invested more than two million taels of silver from selling the land in the western suburbs.
Ministry of Internal Affairs of Shun Tian Prefecture.
Liao Bin paced around the room irritably. Below him, the six assistant stewards all had their heads lowered, and their expressions didn't look too good.
No one dared to speak or even breathe loudly.
"Is this how you do things?
Where are the slave traders you're looking for?
You can't even find a single one? "Liao Bin said loudly.
The six assistant stewards all had a helpless expression. It wasn't easy to find slave traders these days.
Daming, there were indeed many human traffickers, but they only sold servants or women.
It was easy to find Yangzhou skinny horses, but it was difficult to buy foreign slaves.
"Sir, it's not that we aren't trying our best!"
A fat middle-aged man spoke with a bitter expression: "It's just that it's not easy to buy foreign slaves. However, this lowly official has an idea."
When Liao Bin heard this, his eyes immediately lit up: "Official Lin, what idea do you have? There's no harm in saying it!"
"Replying to Official Lin, we aren't good at this, but we can ask Dongchang for help!"
The assistant steward called Official Lin said: "His Majesty asked Dongchang to keep an eye on us. If we ask Dongchang, I'm afraid Eunuch Chang will help."
After a moment of silence, Liao Bin really had no other choice, so he nodded: "Alright, I'll go look for Eunuch Chang."
If he wanted to look for Zhang Jing, he naturally couldn't enter the palace to look for him. Everyone in Daming knew that Zhang Jing's representative outside the palace was his younger brother, Zhang Xun.
Using his brother's influence, Zhang Xun had become a very influential person in the capital these few years.
Zhang Xun wasn't good at business, so he only did ordinary business or was entrusted by others.
Liao Bin wanted Zhang Jing's help, but he felt that it was better to ask Zhang Xun for help.
After leaving the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Liao Bin directly brought his men to Zhang Xun's house.
Although he didn't have an official position, Zhang Xun's house was in the west side of the city.
The house wasn't small, and this house was bestowed by the Emperor. The plaque at the door was very big, with two big words written on it: Zhang Residence!
After receiving the servant's notification, Zhang Xun personally went to welcome Liao Bin.
Now in Daming's elite circle, everyone knew about the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Anything related to the Ministry of Internal Affairs represented money.
Zhang Xun knew that Liao Bin had recently gained the Emperor's trust and had a few big business deals.
If Zhang Xun could get a share of the profits, he would definitely be able to make a lot of money.
Zhang Xun naturally attached great importance to this, so personally coming out to welcome Liao Bin was nothing.
"Official Liao!"
After seeing Liao Bin, Zhang Xun smiled and cupped his hands: "Official Liao Bin's visit today really brings light to the Zhang Residence!"
Liao Bin smiled bitterly, cupped his hands and said, "I've embarrassed myself in front of Elder Brother. Today, I've come uninvited. I hope Brother Zhang won't blame me."
"How could I? Official Liao Bin is an important guest that I can't invite even if I wanted to." Zhang Xun smiled and said, "Official Liao Bin, please come in!" Saying so, he made a gesture of invitation and led the way.
The two of them entered the hall together. After serving tea, Liao Bin smiled and said, "I've come today because I have something to ask of you. I have something that I need Brother Zhang's help with."
Zhang Xun smiled and said, "Official Liao Bin, feel free to speak your mind. As long as you can use me, I will definitely not decline."
Liao Bin didn't hide anything and directly told Zhang Xun about the matter of him wanting to buy slaves. In reality, this matter couldn't be hidden from Zhang Xun. After all, Zhang Xun's brother was Zhang Jing, so he might as well tell him the truth.
Hearing Liao Bin's words, Zhang Xun nodded and said with a smile, "So that's how it is."
However, Zhang Xun's expression also became serious. After a while, Zhang Xun said, "I need to find someone to ask about this matter. After all, I don't know if anyone is willing to do this."
"How about this? Give me two days, and I will give you an answer."
Of course, Liao Bin knew that Zhang Xun was just making an excuse. Zhang Xun most likely wanted to find Zhang Jing to discuss it.
However, this was also his goal. If he didn't pull Zhang Jing into this, why would he need to find Zhang Xun?
Smiling and cupping his hands at Zhang Xun, Liao Bin smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Elder Brother Zhang. I'll wait for Brother Zhang's good news."
After sending off Liao Bin, Zhang Xun knocked on the table, a hesitant expression on his face. After a while, he slowly said, "Men!
Go to the palace and send a message. Say that I want to go to the palace to see Eldest Brother. "
Zhang Xun knew that his eldest brother was very favored by the Emperor.
All these years, his family's business was all because of his eldest brother's power. Since this matter involved the Emperor's decree, he had to be careful. Zhang Xun was very clear about this.
Although he had done many things all these years, Zhang Xun had been reminded countless times by his eldest brother not to be arrogant and careless.
The palace quickly sent back the news. The next morning, Zhang Xun entered the palace.
Very soon, he saw Zhang Jing. Seeing the young eunuch rubbing Zhang Jing's legs, Zhang Xun hurriedly said, "Elder Brother, you've worked hard!"
Zhang Jing glanced at Zhang Xun, nodded, and said, "Speak!
What is it that you have to go to the palace for? "
Zhang Xun naturally didn't dare to hide anything from Zhang Jing. He directly told him about how Liao Bin had found him.
After that, Zhang Xun asked, "Can we do this?"
Zhang Jing's expression didn't change. He said directly, "Do you have a way?"
"Elder Brother, I have a way. I know some people in the northwest and Liaodong. There are also some people there." Zhang Xun nodded and said, "We can buy people in the northwest and Ningxia."
"We can also buy people from the Li family in Liaodong. As for the south, we can directly find Francis."
Zhang Jing glanced at Zhang Xun and said with a sullen face, "Daming the people is out of the question!"
Zhang Xun smiled and said, "That's natural. I'm not someone who doesn't know the severity of the matter. There won't be a single Daming the people.
I just feel that this business is worth doing. It's a small investment and a huge profit. "
"I just want to see what the Imperial Majesty thinks. That's why I came to ask you."
Zhang Jing pondered for a moment. In this era, human trafficking was definitely profitable. Otherwise, why would there be so many human traffickers?
The Imperial Majesty's meaning was clear. Daming would have to buy a lot of slaves in the future. This would definitely be a big business.
Originally, Zhang Jing didn't want to interfere. But now that Liao Bin had come to him, it was a chance.
As for the reputation of human trafficking, Zhang Jing didn't care at all. He had already cut off the roots of his descendants. Why would he care about this?
The only problem was whether the Imperial Majesty was willing to let the Zhang family get involved in this business or not.
"Go back first. Wait for me to ask the Imperial Majesty first!" Zhang Jing thought for a long time and felt that he had to ask the Imperial Majesty about this.
If he didn't ask the Imperial Majesty and did it himself, it probably wouldn't work.
If someone reported this matter to the Imperial Majesty, he was afraid that he would be in trouble. After sending Zhang Xun away, Zhang Jing stood up and went to Wenhua Palace.
When Zhang Jing arrived, Zhu Yijun was reading the memorial. When he saw Zhang Jing, Zhu Yijun was stunned.
Daming's eunuchs were also arranged to serve the Emperor. They weren't always alone.
It wasn't Zhang Jing's shift now. Since he was here, there must be something!
Putting down the memorial in his hand, Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Jing and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Replying to the Imperial Majesty, this servant's younger brother just entered the palace!"
Zhang Jing naturally didn't dare to hide anything. He told him everything and bowed to the side, waiting for Zhu Yijun's reply.
Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Jing. He really didn't expect Zhang Jing's younger brother to be interested in this.
Originally, Zhu Yijun hadn't considered it, but now he could think about it. In this era, the slave trade was definitely an unavoidable hurdle.
The development of all countries was built by stepping on the blood of the colonists.
To put it bluntly, it was using the blood of the people in the backward areas to support their own bodies.
Whether it was the current infrastructure construction or the industrial revolution in the future, slaves were a hurdle that couldn't be crossed.
The life of the people at the bottom of the British society was also very miserable. The industrial revolution of the British was also built on their blood.
Originally, Zhu Yijun's idea was to buy some slaves to contribute to the construction of Daming.
However, with Zhang Jing's words, Zhu Yijun's idea was a little shaken.
It wasn't that he didn't want to buy slaves, but Zhu Yijun felt that he could control the slave trade.
Glancing at Zhang Jing, Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "Let Zhang Xun do it!"
Zhang Xun was Zhang Jing's younger brother, so Zhu Yijun was more or less at ease with him.
Even if the slave trade was started, Zhu Yijun could still maintain effective control over Zhang Xun and not be coerced by the slave trade group.
One had to know that the slave trade was definitely the most profitable in this era.
As for whether they could buy it, Zhu Yijun wasn't worried at all. Now, whether it was Portugal, Spain, or later, the Netherlands, France, and the British, they were all looking for goods to trade with China.
If they just bought from Daming, they would always feel that it was a loss.
If they could sell slaves to Daming, it was estimated that these people would definitely go all out to do it.
Not to mention other places, just Southeast Asia alone would probably directly become their slave hunting ground.
With Zhang Xun in charge, it would be easier to control, and Zhu Yijun had some confidence in his heart.
Hearing that Zhu Yijun agreed to his request, Zhang Jing quickly kneeled on the ground and said, "This servant thanks Imperial Majesty!"
Waving his hand, Zhu Yijun signaled Zhang Jing to get up, and said with a sullen face, "One thing, you tell Zhang Xun, slaves are only allowed to be sold to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, absolutely not to be sold to the commoners."
Zhu Yijun also wanted to improve the treatment of the commoners, so that the commoners would have more income.
If slaves took the commoners' job opportunities, then the gains would not make up for the losses, and this was not acceptable.
Opening up the slave trade, it had to be done gradually, not on a large scale.
As for opening up the slave trade to the commoners, that would have to wait until he abolished Daming's lowly status.
"Yes, Imperial Majesty, this servant will definitely not let Your Majesty down." Zhang Jing quickly agreed.
Night fell.
Zhang Xun paced around the room in frustration. To Zhang Xun, this was a huge matter.
Although Zhang Xun did not know how many slaves Daming would use, Zhang Xun instinctively felt that this was definitely a profitable business.
Once the slaves were sold, and sold cheaply, it was likely that not only the imperial court would want to buy them.
Based on Zhang Xun's understanding, not to mention other places, just in the Northwest grasslands alone, there was a huge shortage of slaves.
The grasslands had a tradition of keeping slaves, and in the past, they would always plunder Daming's commoners to go to the grasslands.
Now that Daming had defeated Wala, Wala would no longer have a place to obtain slaves.
If he sold the slaves to the grasslands, not only would he be able to exchange them for horses, cows, and sheep, but he would also be able to exchange them for some wool.
In addition, there were also craftsmen in various places, and these people would also need slaves.
The more Zhang Xun thought about it, the more excited he got. This was going to be a huge business!