Chapter 44 Make a fortune
A month passed, and Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to be troubled. He sent people several times to inquire about the recent situation of several markets in Nanjing.

However, the responses received from the Yiluansi were all calm.

The sea is calm...

Could it be that those two guys got wind of something and stopped?
This seemed to catch Zhu Yuanzhang off guard again, and he always felt empty in his heart.

Finally, after summoning the ministers and a busy day on this day, Zhu Yuanzhang could not help it.

He waved to the eunuch beside him: "It's time for you to go first."

I should have hurriedly stepped forward and said, "I'm here."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "My treasury has 45% of the sales from the pharmacy! If I remember correctly, it has been a month now. Why hasn't there been any movement from there in this month? No one wants to default on my debt, right?"

He should have hurriedly said, "It was my negligence...I didn't keep a close eye on her..."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hands impatiently and said, "Go, get the account book immediately. Go to the workshop and get it in the name of...Prince Jin. This is my money. How can you ignore it?"

There should have been a hint of surprise in his eyes.

But he quickly said, "I obey your command."

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to think this was a bit direct, so he subconsciously added: "These days, I have become more aware that managing wealth is not an easy task. A good strategy may be beneficial to the court. My sons always make me worry, especially Zhu Gang. As a father, I have to keep an eye on him, he is my flesh and blood."

I couldn't guess what Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking at the moment, so I had to deal with it and said yes repeatedly.

Zhu Yuanzhang then waved his hand and said, "Go quickly."

He didn't dare to be negligent. He just responded and left in a hurry.

I don't know how long it was after, but just when Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting quietly at his desk, reviewing memorials, Yesen finally returned, panting.

He was holding a few account books in his hands, saying, "Your Majesty... your servant... your servant..."

Zhu Yuanzhang stretched out his hand: "Give it to me."

It was time to hand over the account book first. Zhu Yuanzhang picked up an account book, took a deep breath, then opened it and looked at it carefully.

Of course, he quickly turned to the last page of the account book. His face was calm, just like... a rich landlord, patrolling his chicken coop as usual, counting the eggs laid in the coop every day.

He searched with his eyes, seeming a little impatient, wanting only to see the final ledger.

Finally, his gaze fixed on a certain point, and then his eyes changed from a half-smile to a solemn one.

Then, he seemed to suspect that he had seen it wrong, and subconsciously wiped his eyes.

When he focused on the numbers again, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't move at all. He seemed a little shocked, and his shoulders trembled slightly.

He should have captured all of this first. He carefully guessed Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts.

Suddenly, Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "First of all, tell me, if you do business in this medicinal material, how much profit can you make?"

He was stunned at first, and was a little unsure, but he heard that Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have something else to say. He even felt that Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was a little hoarse and he was a little excited.

So he considered and said, "Your Majesty, if it were a slave, it should be three to five thousand taels, no problem."

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head, glanced quickly, and then continued to examine him with a strange look.

I should have been a little panicked. What happened to His Majesty? What was wrong with this account book?
But at this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly laughed and said, "What if I tell you that there were only 80,000 or 90,000 taels of silver in this account book more than a month ago, but now there are 250,000 taels of silver in this account book?"

Should also first: "..."

Two hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver in more than a month? Just buying and selling medicinal herbs, isn't this robbery? But he found that Zhu Yuanzhang didn't seem to be joking, because the expression of His Majesty now was also unbelievable.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was obviously starting to get excited. The new number was so large that even he began to doubt it.

Although the Ming Dynasty’s annual income of three million taels was a lot, it was the annual income of the national treasury.

It has little to do with Zhu Yuanzhang, but such a large sum of money...

Zhu Yuanzhang's breathing became a little heavy. He raised his head, stared at Yesen with his tiger eyes, and couldn't help but said, "Yesen, I want to ask you, how can you make such a huge profit by operating medicinal materials?"

She should have hung her head, not daring to breathe, and hesitated for a long time before saying, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for my incompetence. I... don't know."

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but mutter to himself: "I...I don't know...what...what on earth have they done!"

Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath. One could imagine how excited he was at this moment. After pondering for a moment, he began to really pay attention to the details.

Looking at this huge number, Zhu Yuanzhang was certainly overjoyed, but he knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch.

Where do such huge profits come from?

He sat upright and began to look at the accounts carefully.

These accounts were so complicated that Zhu Yuanzhang was fascinated by them.

He read through it bit by bit, to the point of forgetting to eat and sleep.

Finally, he began to see the clues.

The purchase price of mint is fifty wen per catty, and the selling price is one hundred and twenty wen.

Coptis chinensis, purchase price 23 wen, sale price 80 wen...

There are all kinds of medicinal herbs, but almost all of them... are purchased at extremely low prices and sold at several times the price.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face sank slightly, and in a flash, four words suddenly popped up in his mind...robbery.

This is a huge profit comparable to that from smuggling salt, and the numbers of purchases and sales in the account book are astonishing.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face became increasingly gloomy, and his expression became increasingly solemn.

A bad memory began to flood into my mind.

Twenty or thirty years ago, the world was filled with countless corrupt officials and bad businessmen who, in the name of business, robbed and plundered, causing the world to collapse and the people to suffer, leading to...

Zhu Yuanzhang could relate to these memories, because he was once one of those who was robbed and taken away. That feeling...

The painful memory of this life worse than death began to become clearer, and Zhu Yuanzhang's face began to become flickering.

After a long time, he closed his eyes, but sat upright, and a scene seemed to begin to emerge in his mind.

"Tomorrow..." He paused, and then said slowly in a cold and ruthless tone: "Send the King of Jin, Zhu Gang, to see you."

The eunuch standing by, upon hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's cold voice, knew that someone was about to be in great trouble, and simply said, "Yes."

Zhu Yuanzhang considered it, as if thinking about something, and continued: "Deng...Qian...Qiu..."

I should also stay with Zhu Yuanzhang more often, knowing that His Majesty is beginning to have doubts about what will happen next.

This is actually a very rare situation for Your Majesty. Everyone in the palace knows that Your Majesty has always been decisive and rarely hesitates.

(End of this chapter)