Chapter 243: Yongping Marquis Xie Cheng made long-term plans for his daughter, and Crown Prince Zhu Biao used the Ming Dynasty Bank to control grain merchants

In fact, there were two main reasons why Xie Cheng, Marquis of Yongping, returned to Yingtian Prefecture at this critical time.

On the one hand, her son-in-law Zhu Gang was going to marry Xu Miaoyun, the daughter of Duke of Wei, in more than two months.

According to traditional etiquette, Xu Miaoyun, as the concubine of Prince Jin, should serve tea to Xie Yuer.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang specially granted Xu Miaoyun the treatment of a principal wife, so this procedure must have been waived.

However, as one of the few people who knew the truth, Xie Cheng knew very well that given the current situation of Prince Jin, it was only a matter of time before he became a foreigner overseas.

Once Zhu Gang established a country overseas and achieved his empire, the position of empress would definitely be unique.

If Xie Cheng, as a father, missed the wedding of Zhu Gang and Xu Miaoyun, some rumors would probably spread in the outside world.

As one gains strength while the other loses strength, Xu Miaoyun is likely to come from behind and become the master of the six palaces of the future overseas vassal state.

On the other hand, the father-son relationship between Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Gang became somewhat subtle due to some unknown reasons.

Xie Cheng is worried that if the situation is allowed to continue, it will likely affect the overall development of Shanxi in the future.

Especially in Pingyang Prefecture, where the majority of the population was farmers, the scale of water conservancy construction was relatively large during the Yuan Dynasty.

The construction of these water conservancy facilities has played a great role in promoting local agricultural production and economic development.

Thanks to Zhu Gang's unremitting efforts over the past few years, Pingyang Prefecture's water conservancy management has developed very well.

Pingyang Prefecture has established a complete water conservancy management system that can fully ensure the normal operation and maintenance of water conservancy facilities.

In addition, meteorological disasters are relatively common in Pingyang Prefecture, mainly including floods, droughts and sandstorms.

With the help of Zhu Gang, the local state government took a series of measures to deal with these disasters.

For example, building dams, digging canals, and constructing drought-resistant projects.

The most important thing is that Pingyang Prefecture has relatively developed handicraft industry, among which porcelain and pottery making are relatively famous industries.

Due to the advanced porcelain and pottery making techniques in Pingyang Prefecture, the quality of the products is also excellent.

Therefore, these handicrafts always occupy a certain share in the local foreign trade.

In addition, Pingyang Prefecture's coal mining and iron smelting industries are also relatively developed. Xie Cheng discovered that the local area has relatively rich coal and iron ore resources.

The mining and processing of these resources have greatly promoted the economic development of Pingyang Prefecture.

There is also the textile industry in Pingyang Prefecture, which is also relatively developed.

The local area has cotton and silk production bases, and the construction and development of these production bases have also made great contributions to the economic development of Pingyang Prefecture.

However, the driving force behind all this comes from Zhu Gang’s emphasis on business.

Under his influence, a very complete commercial network has been established throughout Shanxi with Taiyuan Prefecture as its foundation.

There are many businessmen trading here, which has driven the local economic development.

At the same time, the local state government also imposed certain taxes on commercial activities, which provided a large amount of fiscal revenue for various parts of Shanxi.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang always held the old idea of ​​"giving priority to agriculture and neglecting commerce" towards industry and commerce.

He neither suppressed it harshly nor supported it enthusiastically.

If Shanxi loses the support of the Prince of Jin's Palace, many of its current business policies will be difficult to implement.

In addition, Shanxi merchants rose to prominence by taking advantage of the Ming Dynasty's "Kaizhong System" policy, which also played an extremely important supplementary role in the logistical support of border garrison troops.

Among them, salt merchants hired laborers from various places to open up fields and produce grain because of the huge costs of transporting grain over long distances.

They stored the salt in warehouses on the spot in exchange for salt permits, so as to make more profits.

Because this form of military farming is run by merchants, it is also called merchant farming. In the past few years, the merchant farming developed in Shanxi has spread to Liaodong in the east and Xuanda in the north.

It extends west to Gansu and south to Jiaozhi.

Its prosperity played a great role in the storage of military food for border defense and the development of border areas.

In addition to exchanging grain for salt permits according to needs, Zhu Gang sometimes also allowed merchants to exchange cloth, silk, silver, and horses for salt permits.

By using this flexible and varied exchange method, the Taiyuan Army accumulated 20 cavalry in just three years.

However, other regions of the Ming Dynasty still used grain in exchange for salt permits as the main form of the "Kaizhong System".

This was mainly because Zhu Yuanzhang's management of officials was too strict. In addition to favoritism, abuse of power, and corruption and bribery, disobeying orders also meant losing one's head.

However, Zhu Gang relied on Zhu Yuanzhang's indulgence towards his son and flexibly implemented the court policies, which led to the prosperity of Taiyuan and even the entire Shanxi Province today.

Therefore, whether the Taiyuan Jinwang Mansion could receive long-term attention from Zhu Yuanzhang became a major issue related to the development of Shanxi.

Even though Xie Cheng knew that Zhu Gang was trying to trick him, he had no choice but to cooperate with him to play the game of "Tax Management Reform of the Ming Dynasty".

In fact, the two of them had a tacit understanding and were waiting to give the civil and military officials a small shock when they went to court the next day.

At this time in the imperial study, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were sitting at the table, busy handling government affairs.

Although it was late and dark, they had no intention of resting and remained focused on their work.

The candlelight in the imperial study flickered, illuminating the entire room.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao sat side by side, their figures projected on the wall by the light, making them look particularly tall.

The desks in front of them were piled with thick memorials.

Each one needs to be carefully read, reviewed, and a decision made.

These memorials came from all over the country and covered various aspects of politics, economy, military affairs, etc.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly and carefully read the memorial in his hand, occasionally picking up a brush to make comments or sign his opinions.

His eyes were sharp and focused, as if he wanted to see through the paper to the truth behind it.

Zhu Biao sat quietly by the side, observing his father's actions and occasionally offering his own opinions and suggestions.

The father and son cooperated tacitly and handled national affairs together.

"Father, I think what Third Brother said today does make sense."

Zhu Yuanzhang, who was sitting up straight and preparing to drink tea, looked up at Zhu Biao when he heard this.

"We also know that if we deposit taxes into the Ming Dynasty Bank, the imperial court can earn more interest.

But once the grain is converted into silver, it is okay in years with good harvests, but what should we do in the event of a disaster?
Those grain merchants will definitely take the opportunity to stock up and make a profit, and the increase in grain prices will definitely be much higher than the interest."

Zhu Biao said confidently: "Regarding this matter, my third brother has already proposed a solution.

We can provide loans to grain merchants and let them use their houses, shops and land as collateral.

As long as you get on the ship of the Ming Dynasty Money House, any grain merchant who dares to disobey and take advantage of the disaster to make a fortune can have his loan cut off directly.

At that time, not only will the grain belong to the court, but the property of those grain merchants will also be taken over by the national treasury!"

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly realized, "We should turn grain merchants into working cattle to make money for the Ming Dynasty. After they make money, they should return it to us with interest.

It seems that the third brother's method is not unfeasible. When he goes to court tomorrow, he will mention the matter of depositing the tax money into the Daming Bank. You should take care of this matter for your father!"

(End of this chapter)