Chapter 1092: Human Life is the Cheapest, Human Heart is the Dearest

Zhu Zhu Yijun only valued practical results, not morality. If he had valued morality, Wang Wang Chonggu, who came from a background of treacherous officials, could not have served as Senior Assistant for eighteen years, controlling the official factories, the lifeblood of the imperial court.

He only looked at practical outcomes and achievements. If there were achievements, even if morality was corrupt, he would shield them; if there were no achievements, no matter how lofty the morality, Zhu Zhu Yijun would only treat it as a hollow name.

This theory of valuing only achievements would naturally lead some base scholars to stand on the moral high ground and point fingers. But it didn't matter; Zhu Zhu Yijun stood on the high ground of power, pointing fingers. We would see who could point better than whom later.

Zhu Zhu Yijun had prepared many things for the time after Zhang Zhang Juzheng passed away. The "Record of the Senior Assistant's Reform Achievements" he was writing was one of his preparations. It involved copying all the memorials and articles Zhang Zhang Juzheng had written to push through his decrees into it, and having the Emperor personally annotate them.

The Emperor's annotations were far, far longer than Zhang Zhang Juzheng's memorials. For every matter, Zhu Zhu Yijun would detail the causes and consequences, what kind of environment existed at the time, the compromises made during the system's design process, the motivations for the system's design, the details of the system's implementation, the preliminary results of the implementation, the modifications made to the system during the practical process, and the outlook for the policy's future.

Every matter had to include so much content, so naturally, it was very troublesome to write. Moreover, this matter could not be ghostwritten by others; only Zhu Zhu Yijun could do it himself. Ever since he discovered that the fourth volume of the Class Theory was not suitable to be brought out, Zhu Zhu Yijun began writing this book.

Zhu Zhu Yijun had been writing this Record of Achievements for thirteen years.

Ever since Zhang Zhang Juzheng returned power to the Emperor, he began to set about doing this. Because he was truly going to be the master of the house, he had to completely sort out Zhang Zhang Juzheng's New Policies and summarize these New Policies, carrying on the past and opening up the future, completing the Emperor Wanli Reform on the basis of Zhang Zhang Juzheng's New Policies.

The reason this book took so long to write was that Zhu Zhu Yijun was constantly making additions, especially regarding the implementation results of some policies, such as the Single Whip Law, the land survey, and the return of land. These New Policies, which were currently being implemented, needed to be supplemented at any time.

Moreover, many times, Zhu Zhu Yijun often looked at them and found new insights; every time he read them, he had new thoughts, which he would also write into this book.

Rather than calling it a record of achievements, it was better to call it the characterization of numerous historical problems since the Emperor Wanli Reform.

No matter who it was, if they wanted to question Zhang Zhang Juzheng, Zhu Zhu Yijun would take out this book and smash it into their face, telling them to read it thoroughly before questioning him.

This was also the reason why the current Ming bureaucrats were increasingly lazy about fooling the Emperor. The Emperor's level of understanding of the problems since the Emperor Wanli Reform even surpassed Zhang Zhang Juzheng himself. This was due to talent, and also related to His Majesty's activity and diligence in government.

It was very difficult to fool the Emperor; the cost of fooling him was too great. This could be fully felt from the more than four hundred memorials His Majesty read every day. His Majesty was a wise and holy monarch.

Zhu Zhu Yijun kept the memorials from the Censorate officials impeaching Zhang Zhang Juzheng, Wang Wang Xilie, and Shen Shen Yiguan, leaving them without issuing them, and even issued an imperial decree: "This was done by Us, so what of it!"

The Emperor waited for a period of time. There was no news of Censorate officials continuing to submit memorials for impeachment, nor was there news of Censorate officials wanting to prostrate themselves at the palace gate to force the palace. Zhu Zhu Yijun waited for a full fifteen days, and the great Western sailing ships had already docked. This matter seemed to have passed just like that.

Zhu Zhu Yijun originally thought that these seventeen Censorate officials were not arguing or making trouble, so they must be brewing something big! But fifteen days passed, and there was still no movement.

"Are these seventeen censors preparing to wait until I return to the capital to make trouble at the Huangji Gate?" Zhu Zhu Yijun frowned, feeling that the development of the matter was different from his expectations.

Zhang Hong said in a low voice: "According to news from the capital, these seventeen Censorate officials have gone to busy themselves with their own affairs. Recently, they have set their sights on the Shandong anti-corruption case and have all rushed toward the anti-corruption case."

The risk of impeaching Zhang Zhang Juzheng was too great, and it was faster to make contributions by fighting corruption. In the officialdom, how to correct mistakes from above was an age-old problem. If it were simple, there wouldn't be so many muddled emperors. The risk was high and the return was low; fighting corruption had low risk and high return.

"Your Majesty, is it possible that it is the duty of the Censorate officials? Since they know, there is no reason not to report it, otherwise it is dereliction of duty. Moreover, they mustered the courage to submit the memorial, perhaps because they felt Your Majesty was being kept in the dark. Since Your Majesty is perfectly clear, then there is no reason to continue the impeachment." Combining the news from the capital, Zhang Hong felt that His Majesty was a bit too lenient in estimating the enemy.

Where did the Ming Dynasty get so many treacherous and sycophantic officials? The Emperor Wanli Reform had been carried out for twenty-three years, and the benefits it brought were visible to everyone, and everyone had a share.

Censorate officials heard rumors and reported them; knowing and not reporting was dereliction of duty. Reporting them angered the Emperor. This Censorate official position was indeed not easy to do.

"Your Majesty, the current Censorate officials are different from the past. These are all scholars who passed the imperial examination after the Emperor Wanli Reform." Zhang Hong reminded His Majesty that the Censorate officials, the Six Ministries corridors, and the Censorate censors had all changed several batches of people.

The era when censors actively acted as knives for ministers and went against the Emperor had passed.

These fanatical new scholars, these seventeen people jointly submitted a memorial, probably out of anger that Zhang Zhang Juzheng and others dared to hide such things from the Emperor. But knowing that it was His Majesty's decision and that His Majesty knew it in great detail, it was not deceiving the superiors and hiding from the inferiors, so there was no need to pursue it relentlessly.

The loyalty of these fanatical scholars was currently still limited to a wise and holy monarch, rather than the mountains and rivers of the Ming Dynasty. The concept of the Ming Dynasty's mountains and rivers was also a bit too broad, and loyalty to the monarch, loyalty to His Majesty, was very specific.

On this point, the Emperor's feeling was not obvious; it was only recently when he summoned Dai Shi Heng that he perceived this emotion. Being able to be perceived by the Emperor meant that it was already very common.

Zhu Zhu Yijun was stunned, and he said somewhat uncertainly: "Is that so? Did I think too much?"

Soon, Zhu Zhu Yijun knew that he had indeed thought too much.

Completely different from what he had envisioned, the target this time was not Zhang Zhang Juzheng, but Shen Shen Shixing.

Because Shen Shen Shixing submitted a memorial, explaining the ins and outs of this matter to the Emperor, Zhu Zhu Yijun discovered that it was because he had left the capital, and he indeed did not understand the causes and consequences of what happened in the capital.

The seventeen Censorate officials impeaching Zhang Zhang Juzheng was for Shen Shen Shixing to see. When His Majesty was not in the capital, they wanted Shen Shen Shixing to behave himself.

When the Emperor was seriously ill, Shen Shen Shixing was regarded by the Capital Battalion as the mastermind behind the plot to harm the imperial carriage, because once His Majesty passed away, the person who would benefit the most would be Shen Shen Shixing.

And because Shen Shen Shixing took the blame for the Crown Prince, regarding difficult government affairs, which was clearly something the Crown Prince could not handle, Shen Shen Shixing wrote a memorial himself, allowing the monarch, ministers, father, and son to be complete. Since then, Shen Shen Shixing had been regarded as a partisan of the Crown Prince.

And these seventeen Censorate officials bringing up old matters again to impeach Zhang Zhang Juzheng, their purpose was not really to topple Zhang Zhang Juzheng. His Majesty was still there, so Zhang Zhang Juzheng could not be toppled; this had long been a tacit consensus.

On the twenty-third of every month, His Majesty would go to the Yicheng Marquis Mansion for a meal. Regardless of whether Zhang Zhang Juzheng had retired or not, with this honor, relying on the matter of imperial examination fraud, wanting to topple Zhang Zhang Juzheng was undoubtedly a pipe dream.

The seventeen Censorate officials had only one purpose: to make Shen Shen Shixing behave himself. They dared to bite their mentor and the first meritorious minister of the empire's reform; if Shen Shen Shixing dared to do anything overstepping his bounds, they would attack him in a swarm like a pack of wolves.

"One choice, lifelong regret." Zhu Zhu Yijun finished reading Shen Shen Shixing's memorial of explanation, and said with a slightly wry smile.

He had been guessing here and there, and it turned out that the matter was like this.

If Shen Shen Shixing had known that the memorial he wrote for the Crown Prince back then would have such great karma, he... would still have written it. This was Shen Shen Shixing; he truly wanted everyone to be complete.

In fact, the Ming bureaucrats did not have such great resistance to high-ranking officials interfering in the imperial examinations. They knew it was wrong, but there was no good way to deal with it.

For example, Ling Governor Ling Yunyi's son did something ugly. After the imperial court pardoned him through the eight deliberations, no one pursued it relentlessly, and even apart from Ling Governor Ling Yunyi himself, no one flipped this old account.

For example, Wang Wang Chonggu arranged a scholar degree for Wang Qian. At first, some people scolded Wang Wang Chonggu, but slowly, no one talked about this matter anymore. After all, Wang Qian did a good job and was a capable official. Whether in Songjiang Prefecture or in Luzon, he did very well.

Officialdom values the superiors. Once one reaches the position of Senior Assistant or Junior Assistant, even if one is not active, one will passively influence the results of the imperial examinations.

"Is General Qi still fishing in the Dragon Pool?" Zhu Zhu Yijun picked up a memorial. This was a memorial written by Xiong Xiong Tingbi. Regarding the things in the memorial, he did not quite understand them.

If you don't understand, ask the teacher. He planned to go find General Qi to ask.

"He is." Zhang Hong hurriedly arranged the imperial carriage.

The Dragon Pool was within the scope of the Yanqing Palace. If Songjiang Prefecture was the secondary capital, the Dragon Pool was within the scope of the imperial palace. Qi Qi Jiguang fishing in the Dragon Pool all day was actually very dangerous. He was using his own prestige to protect the safety of His Majesty the Emperor, but it would be too easy for His Majesty the Emperor to deal with him.

Since ancient times, it was indeed rare for an emperor and a great general to be able to get along to this extent, but it was not impossible.

For example, Wu Di of Han and Wei Qing. After Wei Qing became seriously ill, Wu Di of Han lowered his rank many times to visit his mansion. When Wu Di of Han went on an inspection tour, Wei Qing accompanied him on the left and right.

Qi Qi Jiguang saw His Majesty walking over with the stride of a dragon and the pace of a tiger, and revealed a smile. His Majesty was coming more and more often.

Although His Majesty was very busy, he would come over to take a look every few days, and the rewards had never stopped. Others might not understand, but Qi Qi Jiguang could clearly feel the reason for His Majesty doing this: he, Qi Qi Jiguang, and Zhang Zhang Juzheng were both very old, and perhaps an accident would come one day, so His Majesty always came, hoping to see them one more time if he could.

This delicate thought was not even perceived by Zhang Zhang Juzheng, but it was fully felt by Qi Qi Jiguang, this military general.

A military man also needs to be delicate in his thinking to grasp the opportunities of war.

"Greetings, Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty, may you be in golden peace." Qi Qi Jiguang hurriedly paid his respects. Today, Zhang Zhang Juzheng was not there; he had gone to Hangzhou Prefecture to collect folk customs. Zhang Zhang Juzheng going south was to travel and enjoy the mountains and rivers, not like the Emperor, acting as a donkey turning a millstone.

"No need for formalities, no need for formalities. How many has General Qi caught today?" Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at the fish basket with great curiosity.

"I haven't caught any. The weather today is not good; it's a bit overcast, and the fish aren't biting the hook." Qi Qi Jiguang analyzed the reason why he hadn't caught any fish; he felt it was because the weather was not good.

Zhu Zhu Yijun looked up at the sky. How could it be anything but a bright sun? A fisherman would subconsciously find reasons for himself; no fisherman could be an exception.

Zhu Zhu Yijun poked at the fish basket and said with emotion: "Not even a sporadic catch? Is it because you fed them too much bait and fed the fish full, so they don't want to bite the hook? Do you want to drain the water?"

Sporadic! Catch! Drain! The water!

As soon as Qi Qi Jiguang heard this, he immediately couldn't hold it together, and his head buzzed with pain from anger. His Majesty had read too many books and read them too well! A single phrase "sporadic catch" broke the defense of the great general who had fought north and south and killed countless people.

Is a great general very good at fighting? What's the use of being good at fighting? Even if you are good at fighting, you can't catch fish.

The way scholars speak is indeed a bit sharp and mean. Chen Zhun, a rebel from the Later Yuan, the more he savored it, the more he felt the scolding was truly dirty; Li Li Yashi's sentence that Felipe had made no contribution to the advancement of history directly angered Felipe so much that he smashed the palace to pieces; the Emperor used four words, making Qi Qi Jiguang not even want to fish anymore.

"Your Majesty." Qi Qi Jiguang then smiled with relief. In fact, this was quite good. In private, His Majesty would never put on the airs or majesty of an emperor, nor did he treat him as a great general, but rather as a master of martial arts.

"Xiong Xiong Tingbi wrote a memorial. I finished reading it and didn't quite understand it. I would like to ask General Qi to help me take a look and see if what he said makes sense." Zhu Zhu Yijun talked to Qi Qi Jiguang about the main business of this trip.

Regarding military administration, Zhu Zhu Yijun could be diligent in learning and asking questions.

"Oh? What did he write?" Qi Qi Jiguang took the memorial. After reading it carefully, his emotional changes were quite obvious. For a while he frowned, then his brows relaxed, and finally he said very affirmatively: "Xiong Xiong Tingbi's military talent is indeed very high."

Everyone said Xiong Xiong Tingbi was proficient in both literature and martial arts. Qi Qi Jiguang had previously only seen that Xiong Xiong Tingbi was very good at fighting. This time, through Xiong Xiong Tingbi's memorial, Qi Qi Jiguang truly saw Xiong Da's military talent; it was not just generally high.

In the memorial, Xiong Xiong Tingbi talked about a problem that almost everyone had ignored, and even Qi Qi Jiguang had not noticed.

He was the Viceroy in Edogawa. After practice, he gave a conclusion: "A hundred-year navy, a thousand-year army."

A navy might need a hundred years to thoroughly become a world-class army, but for an army to become a world-class army, the time required is on the scale of a millennium, not overnight.

In Xiong Xiong Tingbi's view, an army is much, much more expensive than a navy. From the perspective of silver, a navy spends much more money than an army, but an army is actually more expensive, because it is so expensive that almost no one realizes that certain things are also the military expenditure of the army.

The foundation of an army is the legitimacy and mobilization capability of the imperial court.

The Ming army had been in arrears for so many years, but when it was necessary to fight, they could still pull out a group of people to serve the country, dying without turning their heels. This did not require silver, but human hearts.

Human life is really cheap. The muzzle of a firelock flashes, the lead bullet whistles and arrives, drilling into the flesh, drilling out a cavity. Even if it doesn't hit a vital part, with a little more blood loss, one will die. But human hearts are very, very expensive. How much silver do you need to spend to buy someone's willingness to sell their life?

Fighting a war means people will die, and many, many people will die.

Human life is the cheapest, human heart is the dearest.

But the Ming Dynasty just had batch after batch of people willing to take nothing, even hungry, to die for His Majesty, for the imperial court, for the people of the Ming Dynasty, sacrificing their lives for righteousness, killing themselves to achieve benevolence.

From this perspective, building a powerful army is priceless.

The Ming army always maintained the background color of loyalty. From the opening of the Emperor Hongwu era to the Emperor Wanli Reform, the Ming army had never thoroughly changed its color.

"What he said is right." Qi Qi Jiguang first gave the Emperor an affirmative answer. He thought for a moment and said: "Felipe's greatest mistake was making the Invincible Armada no longer invincible, relying on his strength to bully the weak to attack England, but suffering a crushing defeat to such an extent that no one in the West feared him anymore."

"But when the Ming Dynasty didn't have an invincible armada, the small vassal states around the Ming Dynasty still feared the Ming Dynasty. Unlike Spain, although the Ming Dynasty's military administration was corrupt, the Ming army was still very good at fighting."

The emperor who was a beggar had already left, but the beggar army left behind still guarded the mountains and rivers of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Zhu Yijun thought solemnly for a while, shook his head and said: "But Mang Mang Yingli still brazenly launched an offensive against the Ming Dynasty. I have thought about it for so many years, but I still can't understand how Mang Mang Yingli dared to do it."

"That's because Mang Mang Yingli himself was stupid." Qi Qi Jiguang was silent for a moment. Mang Mang Yingli, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, all felt that the Ming Dynasty was a broken house that would collapse if kicked. They kicked it, and a pile of great men jumped out.

Military administration also has its ups and downs. Since the death of Wu Di Sect, the collateral branch of the Ming Dynasty entered the great ancestral line, and complex political struggles thoroughly corrupted the Ming military administration, naturally giving people an opportunity to take advantage of.

And the revitalization of the military in the Emperor Wanli Reform was the rise after the low tide, and His Majesty grasped this rise, making the Ming army's appearance shine with heavenly might.

"Then Xiong Da is still very amazing." Zhu Zhu Yijun nodded repeatedly after listening to Qi Qi Jiguang's explanation.

Xiong Xiong Tingbi being able to have such an understanding was the practical experience and lessons he gained in Edogawa.

Xiong Xiong Tingbi equalized the fields in Edogawa. He hoped to organize the villagers to protect their own land from being exploited by the samurai, but he quickly stopped this behavior because he discovered that he was simply cultivating a new samurai class.

Xiong Xiong Tingbi called the Japanese samurai class legal bandits.

Once these villagers got weapons, they aimed them at their fellow villagers, forcing them to hand over the last bit of rice in their rice jars.

This matter caused Xiong Da to stumble badly. Similarly, he finally thoroughly understood Wan Wan Shihe's sentence: "The Japanese are three parts human, seven parts beastly, deeply rooted."

The Ming Dynasty had a very extensive system of police inspectors and archers. These archers had weapons in their hands, and they aimed their weapons at mountain bandits and wild beasts to protect the peace of one side, rather than aiming them at the people to rob the people of their money, grain, wives, and daughters.

After Zhu Zhu Yijun and Qi Qi Jiguang finished chatting, he left in a hurry, just as he had come in a hurry.

Qi Qi Jiguang looked at the Emperor's back, feeling quite gratified. He had watched His Majesty's busy figure for so many years, and every time he saw it, he still felt at ease.

His ambition in this life was actually as written in his poem: "To be enfeoffed is not my intention, I only wish for the sea waves to be calm, wishing for the world to be peaceful."

An active Ming emperor was the hope for another revival in the long history of the Ming Dynasty.

It only takes twenty years for a country to go from prosperity to decline, and it also takes twenty years to go from decline to prosperity. Qi Qi Jiguang had personally witnessed all the hardships of these twenty-three years.

On May 27th of the 23rd year of Emperor Wanli, this day was rainy. The Emperor got up early as usual. After washing, he began a busy day. He summoned several ministers, communicated with these ministers face-to-face about some problems in yesterday's memorials, and made decisions.

After the Emperor met with the ministers, he reviewed memorials in the Imperial Study. He read 124 in the morning. After lunch, he went to the Songjiang Navy Camp to inspect the troops and horses, participated in military training, and chatted carefully with the navy generals about the issue of stationing troops in Da Nang.

After the Emperor returned to the Yanqing Palace, he continued to process memorials. He still had more than two hundred memorials to deal with today. According to past experience, he might have to be busy until the third quarter of the Hai hour, which was around ten o'clock in the evening.

As the sun set in the west, Zhu Zhu Yijun had just sat down and processed three memorials when a small eunuch ran in hurriedly and said anxiously: "Your Majesty, the largest cotton mill in Songjiang Prefecture, Li Yu Cotton Mill, the craftsmen are sitting and demanding wages!"

"Songjiang Viceroy Li Le and Prefect Hu Junde have already gone."

"Commanders!" Hearing about the mass incident, Zhu Zhu Yijun immediately looked at the two commanders.

Li Yu Cotton Mill was the largest cotton mill in Songjiang Prefecture and also the life's work of Sun Sun Kehong. Just the cotton mill craftsmen alone numbered 15,000. This was no small matter.

After Sun Sun Kehong donated his family property, this cotton mill belonged to the imperial court. This handover caused a mass incident, so Zhu Zhu Yijun naturally had to manage it.

"Your servant is here!" Zhao Zhao Mengyou and Luo Luo Bingliang stepped out of the ranks and bowed their heads.

"You two each lead 1,500 guards. Commander Zhao, you lead people to control the streets and so on, no idlers allowed. Commander Luo, you lead people into the Li Yu Cotton Mill, control the situation, and don't let bloodshed occur. I will arrive shortly." Zhu Zhu Yijun sat straight.

Zhu Zhu Yijun did not go together. He immediately summoned Ma Lin, the son of Yangcheng Marquis Ma Fang. As a meritorious minister of the eastern expedition, Ma Lin mobilized 1,000 people from the accompanying Capital Battalion and accompanied His Majesty to the Li Yu Cotton Mill.

Soon, Qi Qi Jiguang, who had received the news, also arrived at Li Yu Cotton Mill.

When he arrived at Li Yu Cotton Mill, Zhu Zhu Yijun breathed a sigh of relief. The situation on the scene was still under control, and no bloodshed had occurred. That made it easy to handle. Once bloodshed occurred, with the crowd agitated, no one would know what the craftsmen would do or what state the situation would develop into.

About 6,000 craftsmen, holding various tools, sat quietly on the open space of the cotton mill. Even when the guards arrived, they did not move, and the few craftsmen at the head were empty-handed, even bare-chested, sitting at the very front.

The scene was very quiet, and there was a power called silence brewing.

After Zhu Zhu Yijun arrived at the cotton mill, he first summoned the few craftsmen sitting at the front, and then summoned the shopkeeper of the cotton mill to clarify the causes and consequences.

Listening to the craftsmen's demands first, this order was very important.

The matter was very simple; it was caused by money, or more precisely, by labor compensation.

"I really didn't expect that Li Yu Cotton Mill would actually owe wages for a full seventeen months, without paying a single cent." Zhu Zhu Yijun was quite moved. The craftsmen's demands were reasonable; they demanded that the new shopkeeper pay the previous labor compensation.

"If you pay the labor compensation, can this kind of thing still happen?" Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at the new shopkeeper. This new shopkeeper came from the official factory and was originally the manager of the Yongding Woolen Mill. Obviously, he brought the bureaucratic style of the official factory to Li Yu Cotton Mill: "I say what, the craftsmen must listen."

The official factory could do this because the craftsmen in the official factory were guaranteed a good income regardless of drought or flood, and the imperial court gave good treatment. The craftsmen in the private mill originally relied on this bit of labor compensation to live. If it wasn't paid, it would be strange if they didn't make trouble.

"There is no money in the account." The new shopkeeper was silent for a long time before giving the Emperor an answer. This was a fact. He didn't pay it and still wanted to cut redundant personnel, just because there was no money in the account.

Zhu Zhu Yijun had the accounts brought to him, and after examining them carefully, he slammed his hand on the table and said, "Are these second, third, and fourth sons really sired by Sun Sun Kehong? They are truly a disgrace to their father! This group of parasites has actually hollowed out such a large and profitable cotton spinning business!"

You don't know until you look at the accounts; you are shocked when you look at them.

Ask an organization in good operating condition, how long does it take for borers from gestation to hollowing out this organization? The answer of Li Yu Cotton Mill is: ten years.

In just less than ten years, the shopkeepers, accountants, purchasers, etc., raised by the second, third, and fourth sons hollowed out Li Yu Cotton Mill, the largest cotton mill in Songjiang Prefecture. Looking at the accounts, it was simply shocking.

"A deficit of 2.4 million silver! Apart from the 520,000 in owed labor compensation, the cotton mill actually owed cotton merchants 1.9 million silver in payments for goods!" Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at the new shopkeeper somewhat strangely and asked: "Why didn't these cotton merchants make trouble to ask for money?"

There was no silver in the account, and the shopkeeper had no silver to spend, so he couldn't pay back the money to these cotton merchants, but these cotton merchants didn't make trouble either.

"They don't dare." The new shopkeeper was concise and told the Emperor the root cause.

Almost all the powerful and wealthy people knew that when craftsmen and commoners made trouble, His Majesty would ask what grievances they had and would try every possible way to solve them. However, when these rich merchants and powerful people made trouble, His Majesty would only send troops to suppress them.

"First, pay the labor compensation from the inner treasury, and restore production first. As for the cotton merchants' money, pay it back slowly as production makes a profit. It absolutely cannot be left unpaid." Zhu Zhu Yijun said to the new shopkeeper: "I give you five days to find all the people of the second, third, and fourth sons, and go to the Songjiang Prefecture Southern Yamen to file a complaint. How they ate the silver, they must spit it out for me!"

"Your Majesty, the list is here." The new shopkeeper didn't need five days. Before the Emperor's words fell, he took out the list and handed it to Zhang Hong.

"So not only were the craftsmen waiting for me, but you were also waiting for me?" Zhu Zhu Yijun saw the list, and then looked at Hu Junde who had arrived, and tasted something.

This was not the first time Hu Junde had borrowed momentum. The last time was during the public discussion meeting, Hu Junde borrowed momentum.

The conversion of Li Yu Cotton Mill from a private mill to an official factory involved some historical legacy problems that needed to be fundamentally solved. But because it involved the behind-the-scenes transaction between Sun Sun Kehong and the Emperor, Hu Junde and the new shopkeeper could not set the tone.

This matter dragged on, and the craftsmen, who were already seriously in arrears with wages, naturally had to demand labor compensation during the process of Li Yu Cotton Mill changing its banner.

Zhu Zhu Yijun was very willing to let officials who really wanted to do things and were willing to do things borrow momentum. Wasn't he, this emperor, doing exactly this? Back then, he stood on the platform for Zhang Zhang Juzheng, and now he stood on the platform for the capable officials of the world, to play the role of the emperor well and lead the Ming Dynasty forward.

After Zhu Zhu Yijun summarized all the news, he said: "First, we must ensure the people's livelihood. These 15,000 craftsmen are 15,000 families, which is by no means a small matter. Pay the labor compensation from the inner treasury first to solve the problem. Secondly, we must ensure production. Stopping for one day means losing money. The craftsmen lose, the cotton mill loses, and the imperial court also loses."

"As for these old accounts, settle them all together. Since Sun Sun Kehong handed over everything, he didn't intend to protect them."

Li Yu Cotton Mill had no money in the account, owed payments to raw material suppliers, and craftsmen were sitting and demanding wages, but the cotton mill had not fallen into operational difficulties and was still an extremely high-quality asset. No matter who got it, after sorting it out, it would be a chicken that lays golden eggs.

On this point, Sun Sun Kehong did not deceive the Emperor; he was not dumping a burden. The means of production were still there, and the craftsmen were still there. ===== CHAPTER 1093 =====