Chapter 294 Gathering People’s Hearts

Author: Potato Sweet Potato Pie

Chapter 294 Gathering People’s Hearts

How can a public weapon of the state be used privately? If it is used for profit, why should it not be criticized by the world?

But this profit is worth millions of taels of silver.

That's a different matter.

It's just that he had said so resolutely and resolutely just now, but now he changed his mind. Emperor Hongzhi's face was inevitably confused. Zhu Houzhao grinned and wanted to be happy, but when he stared at him, he couldn't be happy anymore.

After a while, Zhu Youtang seemed to have adjusted his mentality. To be honest, he really wanted to believe that he could earn millions of taels of money, but it was really hard to believe it.

After all, it’s just about delivering letters. Even if you deliver tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of letters a year, how much money can you make?

"How can you earn so much money by delivering letters?"

"Your Majesty, it's not just for sending letters. The post station occupies a large area, and there are not many officials coming and going every day. We can set aside a dozen rooms specifically for merchants doing business."

Emperor Hongzhi frowned again, "Treating the post station as an inn?"

"Absolutely. There are also goods carried by merchants. If you are not in a hurry to sell them, or if you encounter something urgent, you can store the goods in a post station and charge a storage fee. I have many post stations in the Ming Dynasty.

Two thousand are just idle if they are idle, so it is better to make the best use of them.”

Emperor Hongzhi's eyes flickered again. Apparently, he hesitated again when he heard that it still wanted to be an inn or a warehouse.

Xia Yuan blew on the side and said: "Your Majesty, to deliver letters to the people, we only need to arrange fixed manpower and horses. Including the people in charge of this matter, we only need a few people in total.

As for accommodation, if you reserve some rooms specifically for court officials to stay, there will be no problems and it will not delay the court's military and state affairs. It is still a benevolent policy, and you can make money, a lot of money, millions of taels of wasted money."

"Okay, don't make any noise." The sound of silver coins was like the whisper of a devil. Emperor Hongzhi was bewitched, "I just agree to this, don't make any noise."

"oh."

"But even if you say so, it doesn't seem like you can earn so much silver."

"We can't make money, so we have to start from other aspects. The imperial court prints some accommodation tickets and inventory tickets, and lets the merchants come to the government to buy them. In this way, they can go directly to the inn with these tickets. This can prevent the inn from charging random prices.

, destroying the market.

As for letters, stamps are used. The imperial court prints them in advance. When people need to send letters, they only need to buy a stamp and stick it on the letter. Then write down which post station to send it to, and then hand it over to the local post station.

"

"And in this way, the court can make profits in advance, but the credit aspect must be well controlled. You cannot buy accommodation tickets, inventory tickets, or stamps, but cannot use them when you go to the inn, or charge them twice, so you have to

Increase the punishment, even if it means beheading."

Having said that, Xia Yuan looked straight at Emperor Hongzhi, waiting for his approval. These various bills must be implemented in place, especially credit. Absolute credibility must be established through this matter. After all, it is related to whether it can be issued in the future.

banknote.

A country that is scarce in gold, silver, and copper uses these precious metals as its main currency. This is tantamount to handing over financial dominance to others. In the end, the only person to pay the price is the entire Ming Dynasty.

As for the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes, they had been ruined by the greedy Ming emperors a long time ago. They could only re-establish the country's credibility before issuing new currencies.

After Zhu Youtang thought deeply, he asked in his expectant eyes: "Why should this matter be punished so severely?"

"Because the most important thing for a country is its credibility, which must not be damaged. If this matter can be handled properly, people's trust in the court can be established and people's hearts can be won."

Upon hearing the words "win the hearts and minds of the people," Emperor Hongzhi's expression became stern. He even felt that it didn't matter whether he could make money or not. He looked at him deeply and asked, "Is this Ju Zheng's true intention?"

"It's almost the same, but it's also about making money."

"I will issue an edict on this matter and order a secretary to strictly supervise the handling. As for the accommodation tickets and inventory tickets that can be used to earn money, the sales price can be appropriately higher for merchants.

But that stamp, this stamp is bought by the people, and the price must be low."

These days, cheating businessmen is the mainstream ideology, and the common people make up a large base. Since we want to win over the people, the lower the price of these stamps, the more people will buy them.

Emperor Hongzhi could still figure this out.

"What your Majesty is saying is, how can ordinary people get the money? An ordinary stamp can be sold for two copper plates."

At this point, Xia Yuan paused and then said: "But according to my idea, I will earn these millions of taels of silver through stamps, and this matter is still on your Majesty's side."

Zhu Youtang was startled, "Is it on me?"

Xia Yuan hummed, then looked at Zhu Houzhao, "It's also on His Highness the Crown Prince."

Zhu Houzhao originally planned to be an emotional mute, but now he had to speak. He was stunned for a moment, and then asked: "Do you want me to sell this stamp?"

Hearing this, Xia Yuan could only shake his head secretly. He has become the chairman of the board, but he is still a business retarder. He had to say: "If we divide these stamps into different categories and put them into different grades, we can launch an exclusive and noble commemorative stamp."

"People are stupid and have too much money?" Zhu Houzhao blurted out.

"That's right, people are stupid and have too much money."

This time the stamps could not be sold to the emperor, so Xia Yuan had no psychological burden.

Seeing his admission, Zhu Houzhao was happy, his face brightened, and he said to Emperor Hongzhi: "Father, I know this kind of thing very well. It's the same as that of white sugar. As long as this person is stupid and has a lot of money,

If you put the stamps in a beautiful packaging box, someone will definitely buy it.”

"Only fools buy it."

"Yes." Zhu Houzhao nodded and turned his eyes back, "Father, those fools like to buy this kind of thing."

"."

Xia Yuan didn't want to pay attention to him anymore and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, the stamps sold to the people can be printed less beautifully. After all, the stamps are mainly practical and the cost must be controlled.

But this commemorative stamp must be printed extremely beautifully, and His Majesty’s calligraphy must be written on the master plate. After it is printed, it will be sold in a limited edition. For example, this year only 5,000 pieces will be sold.”

"It is not difficult to sell a beautiful stamp with His Majesty's calligraphy on it for dozens or hundreds of taels."

"Similarly, we will print out commemorative stamps for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, as well as those cabinet ministers and ministers from the six ministries, and let them all join in.

Write the calligraphy on it, then print it and sell it. Every year it is a limited edition, and it will never be repeated in the second year, and the previous one will not be printed again. The price is set at a few taels, a dozen taels, or dozens.

No difference between the two."

"The ministers will definitely be willing to do this kind of thing. Not only will it enrich the national treasury, but it can also be sold together with His Majesty's calligraphy stamps, which will increase your reputation."

Emperor Hongzhi frowned slightly, "It's not difficult to write a calligraphy treasure. If it can enrich the national treasury, I am willing to do it. But can it really be sold at such a high price? Will anyone really buy it?"

"It has been more than 130 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Although most of the people are poor, the merchants and squires have more money than the last. I can guarantee that as long as these limited edition stamps are released, they will definitely be sold.

When we go out, the supply will even exceed the demand."

Zhu Youtang didn't have much confidence that his calligraphy stamps could be sold for tens or even hundreds of taels.

If it were a serious calligraphy treasure, he wouldn't think it would be difficult to sell it for several thousand taels, but can your printed calligraphy be considered a treasure?

To this, Xia Yuan could only say: You don't understand stamp collectors.
Chapter completed!