They actually hid so much money. We were too kind to them in the past!
Adding to that the nearly 40 million taels received previously... this is almost 400 million taels of silver.

"You bastard! You bastard! You bastard!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's heart was bleeding. If he had gone to find Zhu Kai at that time and reached an agreement with him on the money shop business, at least half of the 400 million taels of silver would be his.

"No, we have to open a bank too, and let those people deposit their money in our bank!"

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help it and was ready to use his power to seize it by force: "That money should be ours!"

"Dad, you're thinking wrong."

Zhu Biao saw that Zhu Yuanzhang was immediately hysterical, and quickly reminded him: "Dad, the money that Brother Kai got is not his, but the money that other people deposited in the bank. Brother Kai wants to use this money to build a road, just the highway from Liaodong to the Western Regions, it will cost an astronomical amount, and this money may not be enough."

"shit!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was immediately unhappy. "What's the cost of building a road? Lan Yu is pulling the army to the Western Regions, Feng Sheng is helping him deal with Goguryeo, and Wu Zhen is building ships to prepare for an expedition to the Japanese islands. After these three battles, that guy has at least 100,000 prisoners. Is it worth spending money to build a road with these 100,000 prisoners?"

"..."

This made Zhu Biao silent. What Zhu Yuanzhang said really made sense.

"But, with so much cargo, can they eat it all?"

Zhu Biao continued to make excuses for Zhu Kai, "Who can spend money to buy goods? If they can't be sold, won't Brother Kai lose money?"

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't buy it: "Impossible! That guy won't pay."

Seeing that Zhu Biao was still trying to make excuses for Zhu Kai, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't stand it any longer: "Okay, stop making excuses for him... Such a big business, that guy actually wants to take it all for himself, no way."

"No, I didn't keep it all to myself."

Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was determined to get a share of the money shop, Zhu Biao quickly brought out his trump card: "Mother, mother has 20% of the money shop's share."

"..."

Zhu Yuanzhang choked when he heard this, then looked at Zhu Biao unkindly: "What about you?"

Zhu Biao weakly raised a finger: "10% share."

"..."

What a jerk!
Zhu Yuanzhang was furious!
He took great pains to negotiate with Zhu Kai, but in the end he got nothing. Zhu Biao and Ma Xiuying did nothing, yet took away 30%.

This is just the business of the money house.

There are also businesses in the grassland and Liaodong...

Zhu Yuanzhang asked again: "What about the grassland and Liaodong?"

"My mother and I each have 10%."

"..."

Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he almost vomited blood. Zhu Kai, that bastard, is bullying me because I’m an honest person, right?
Your elder brother and your mother have it all, but they won’t give us anything we need!
Isn't this clearly bullying honest people?

"Biao'er..."

Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed the violence in his heart and looked at Zhu Biao with a friendly expression: "We are a family, right? You are still my prince, and my future is also yours, isn't it? This..."

"Dad, please stop talking."

Zhu Biao immediately stopped Zhu Yuanzhang from continuing, "Brothers should settle accounts clearly. Brother Kai said that business can't be mixed up with court affairs. Dad... let's not talk about money. It hurts the feelings of our family."

"What kind of relationship do we have with you?"

Zhu Yuanzhang cursed, "Get out of here, you ungrateful bastard!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao felt as if he had been pardoned, so he quickly said goodbye to Zhu Yuanzhang and left Wuying Hall.

What a joke! The shares that Zhu Kai gave him must not be handed over to others. Besides, the person who wants to get the shares is Zhu Kai’s biggest competitor.

Even if I want to cheat my father, I can't cheat my brother Kai.

Zhu Biao left Wuying Palace and walked towards the Eastern Palace with ease... As for Old Zhu, let him be angry, he will figure it out after a while.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who still couldn't figure it out, had asked Yuan Qi to call Liu Bowen over. He wanted to discuss with Liu Bowen how much money he could make by opening a money house and how he could get a piece of Zhu Kai's pie.

Zhu Yuanzhang really wanted to do it, otherwise all the benefits would be taken away by Zhu Kai. If he did nothing, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that he would be angry to death.

With money paving the way, everything Zhu Kai wants to do becomes easy.

No one wants to go to Liaodong?

spend money!

There are no skilled workers in Liaodong?
spend money!

No scholars?
spend money!

……

Zhu Kai: As long as it can be done with money, it’s not a problem.

In his letter to Zhu Kai, Hu Weiyong told Zhu Kai about the situation of Jianchi Road.

The highway from Yanjing to Qi and Lu has started to build in the Eastern Palace. According to Zhu Kai's request, Hu Weiyong is building a high-performance highway that is seven meters wide and five feet thick to meet the needs of future business.

The construction of such a high-performance highway required the participation of many people, and all the people living near the highway were mobilized.

Money was given for building the expressway, and the more meters of the road built, the more silver was given. When the people heard that there was money to be made by building the expressway, they all flocked to the project.

Zhu Kai was very satisfied with the result; this was exactly what he wanted.

Feng Sheng also knew what Zhu Kai wanted to do. He first cursed him as a jerk on the city wall of Yanjing City, then sent troops to conquer Goguryeo, brought in 70,000 prisoners, and made them build the highway. The remaining women were first selected by the soldiers, and then by the civilians... In the end, those who had no one to choose were thrown to the construction site to cook.

Although Zhu Kai had no intention of leaving them a chance to survive, the food was still good. The grassland was full of cattle and sheep, and they could eat and gnaw as much as they wanted. They had no natural enemies and could grow freely. The grassland had become the Ming Dynasty's pasture.

Wu Zhen has also started to act. They use the huge wood transported from Liaodong to make the keel of the sea ship, and then under the construction of shipbuilders, seven large sea ships are ready to set sail. Wu Zhen heard from the captured Japanese that after July, the sea will be basically calm, and then they will set out from Goguryeo and visit the Japanese island first.

Seven sea vessels, plus other small ships, can transport 5,000 elite soldiers at a time. How many troops are there on the Japanese island now? The Japanese island is still in the era of village-to-village fighting. Five thousand troops can be regarded as their ancestors. Not to mention Lan Yu, he stayed in Yingtian Prefecture for almost two years and had been suffocated for a long time. After arriving in the grassland, he handed over the grassland and Liaodong to Feng Sheng, and started to go to the Western Regions with 50,000 people.

In Lan Yu's words: He knew that Zhu Kai was doing business, so he went to help Zhu Kai bring back some free goods.

If divided along the Great Wall, there is no war in the Ming Dynasty now. Everyone is farming, making money, and trying to have children. North of the Great Wall, the Ming Dynasty's blade is harvesting the leeks that belong only to a powerful country.

Although the court officials did not want the generals to continue fighting, they were helpless. Zhu Yuanzhang was a man who loved pomp and glory. If they raised any objections now, they would be asking for trouble with Zhu Yuanzhang. How could Zhu Yuanzhang indulge someone who made him unhappy?
So, let them fight, the harder they fight the better.

Anyway, being awarded the title of Duke is already the pinnacle of fame. The Duke's family only gets an extra thousand acres of farmland, and cannot annex other lands. This Duke is just an empty shell. Apart from the nice name, there is no other meaning to it.

So, let the military generals fight. After you conquer the land, won't it be us scholars who have to manage it?

However, Zhu Yuanzhang dropped a bombshell at the grand court meeting, which completely stunned the court officials.

Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to confer a title of king on someone with a different surname.

As soon as this statement was made, everyone objected.

Especially the civil officials, when they heard the news that Zhu Yuanzhang would confer the title of king, they immediately protested in the hall.

What a joke! If we now appoint kings of the opposite sex, the first batch of kings of different surnames will definitely be military generals. What benefits will this bring to their civil service group?
I disagree. I absolutely cannot agree.

Li Shanchang did not say anything. He felt that this king of a different surname appointed by Zhu Yuanzhang was not a simple person.

Therefore, Li Shanchang chose to wait and see.

He hoped that the court would not be able to reach a clear opinion on the attitude towards the king of a different surname, so that he could find an opportunity to meet Zhu Kai and ask for his opinion.

Li Shanchang had heard from Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao before that they wanted to make a king of the opposite sex, but he was busy reorganizing the six ministries at the time and had no time to take care of the matter. He also had not discussed it with Zhu Kai. Now that Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly brought it up, Li Shanchang was really surprised.

Not understanding what Zhu Yuanzhang meant, Li Shanchang chose to keep his troops in place.

As for those civil officials who were against enthroning a king of the opposite sex, they would definitely not have the opportunity to enthronize a king of a different surname.

Who knew that after hearing everyone's opposition, Zhu Yuanzhang was not in a hurry: "Since you object, let's discuss it later... I originally wanted to make Shanchang and Guangyang kings, but now it seems that you don't agree."

Li Shanchang?
Wang Guangyang?
Zhu Yuanzhang only mentioned the names of two civil officials, but did not mention any military generals... Is there any use for no military generals when enfeoffing a king of a different surname this time?
Everyone turned their eyes to Xu Da and found that he was standing at the front of the queue as if nothing had happened...

Oh, it turns out that he had already known that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to confer the title of king on civil officials.

I go!

Ennobling a civil official as a prince...what the hell is going on?

The court immediately exploded.

They knelt down and asked Zhu Yuanzhang what was going on... If Zhu Yuanzhang really wanted civil officials to become kings of different surnames, then they had to make this happen even if they had to offend all the military generals!
"My Lords, please be patient and listen to me."

Zhu Biao stood up at this time and explained to everyone: "There are only three vacancies for the title of king of different surnames, the King of Liaodong and the Kings of East and West Grasslands. Whoever gets the title of king does not depend on his current achievements, but on his future ability. As long as you get the title of king, govern Liaodong well, and are recognized by His Majesty and the people of the world, you can get the hereditary title of king and the fiefdom of a county. Of course... you must also carefully train the descendants of the adults. If their abilities are not enough to support their own titles of kings, their titles will be stripped and they will be demoted to Dukes..."

What Zhu Biao was talking about now was a set of methods for enfeoffing kings of different surnames, which was improved many times by Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao after Zhu Kai proposed a simple plan.

Use it first, then modify it.

When the military generals heard that they would have to govern, they immediately became dissatisfied... How could these rough men who had fought in wars know how to govern a place? Isn't this bullying? Besides, the Ming Dynasty was conquered by them and their soldiers with their heads pinned to their belts. Now you want to confer titles on those civil officials who have never fought in a war as kings of different surnames?
How can this be!

No! Absolutely no!
"The King of Liaodong and the Kings of the East and West Grasslands have no enemies. Whoever is crowned king here cannot have any other soldiers except the two thousand soldiers who protect him."

Zhu Biao then dropped another bombshell.

The soldier who was about to raise objections just now stopped talking in an instant.

After being crowned king, you can only lead two thousand soldiers?
Then what's the point of being a prince?

"In addition, other generals have led troops to fight and made contributions to the establishment of the Ming Dynasty. You can also lead troops to fight to the south, east, west, or north... In the future, you can be crowned king based on your merits!"

Zhu Biao glanced at the excited generals and added, "You can bring your own soldiers, 20,000! The national treasury will pay for them!"

When you go out to fight and occupy a city, if you think that this place is not good, then you can hand it over to the Ming Dynasty; if you think the conquered place is good and want to make it your own fiefdom, you can also submit a memorial to the court, and the court will promise you a large fiefdom according to your merits.

And he can lead 20,000 soldiers.

All the generals wanted to agree to such a good thing.

There are basically only two reasons why military generals want to be crowned kings. One is for face, and the other is that they also want to leave something that can be passed down to their family. After all, they have fought wars all their lives and have not left anything good. Some of the land they had acquired with great difficulty was taken back by Zhu Yuanzhang. If they can pass on the identity of a king to the next generation, the military generals will feel that their life is worth it.

Zhu Yuanzhang gave his generals titles of king to satisfy their pride, but if it could be passed down as a lifetime gift...

I'm sorry, but in the entire Ming Dynasty, only the throne can be passed down from generation to generation, nothing else can.

"Among the descendants of the king, the sons can enjoy the treatment of the king before they are 18 years old. After they are 18 years old, they will be treated as dukes. The grandchildren will be treated as marquises..."

To put it bluntly, the two ways of conferring titles of kingship proposed by Zhu Yuanzhang for civil officials and military generals ultimately boil down to this: you must not only require yourself to be excellent, but you must also ensure that your children are equally excellent. If you can continue to be so excellent, the throne will always be your family. If not... then I'm sorry, I will take away the title of king and let your descendants get what they deserve.

In order to obtain their own thrones, civil officials and military generals would inevitably transform themselves into workers and work continuously for the Zhu family for their own titles.

This was specifically proposed by Zhu Kai in order to prevent meritorious officials or their descendants from just resting on their laurels and waiting to die. It would be a complete waste of the money in the Ming Dynasty's treasury to support these people.

Zhu Kai told Zhu Yuanzhang that he must find a way to tie the Ming Dynasty and these meritorious officials together, so that they would willingly work for the Ming Dynasty and be willing to be commanded by the Ming Dynasty.

After Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao learned of Zhu Kai's idea, they all expressed their agreement.

It was on this basis that Zhu Yuanzhang dared to bring up this matter at the grand court meeting.

Of course, it was just a proposal. As for who would be crowned king, the cabinet had to come up with an agenda and they would decide on the candidate.

When the civil officials and military officers heard Zhu Biao's words, their eyes towards Li Shanchang and others changed instantly. The cabinet could even participate in such a matter as conferring a kingship. How much importance did Zhu Yuanzhang attach to the cabinet? The eyes of the civil officials looking at Li Shanchang and others were full of eagerness, and that kind of enthusiasm could almost melt people.

The generals' focus is not on who can be crowned king now, but on leading the troops to fight.

The best chance to become a king is to expand the territory for the Ming Dynasty.

Suddenly, an unknown general suddenly said, "Fuck! Lan Yu!"

The generals woke up from their dream, and suddenly they remembered that Lan Yu was named General of the Western Expedition and was sent by Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the Western Regions.

The Ming Dynasty's military commanders who could be crowned kings were Xu Da, Feng Sheng, and Li Wenzhong. Now if we add Lan Yu, who represents Chang Yuchun... my goodness, the four most capable military commanders of the Ming Dynasty are all relatives of the Zhu family. (End of this chapter)